Take Off the Mask
by PixelEm
Summary: Nick didn't swap out the Night Howler serum. (AU - Warning: character death)
1. Things Fall Apart

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE MOVIE YET PLEASE GO DO THAT BEFORE READING THIS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

 **Well then… I have successfully become obsessed with yet another Disney movie XD And as such, whenever I get obsessed with something new, I gotta write about it (plus I should probably take a quick break from writing Cars fanfiction to avoid writer's block).**

 **The idea for this fic in particular came to me after wondering one of those great, earth-shattering questions:** _ **How would the movie have ended if**_ **this** _ **happened instead?**_ **And from the summary, you can probably tell what angle I decided to test out.**

 **A few heads-up before diving in: there's a bit of violence at the beginning of this fic. Nothing particularly graphic, but there is blood and one instance of gun violence. It doesn't really go beyond PG-13 levels, but I still feel like I should put up a warning nonetheless.**

 **And so with all that out of the way, please enjoy my first Zootopia fic!**

 **DISCLAIMER: No, Disney. I do not own one of** _ **your**_ **properties. You happy? 'Kay.**

As the puzzle pieces clicked into place Judy Hopps felt every drop of blood rush away from her face. Her paws stiffened around the case carrying the Night Howler dispenser. She sensed Nick tensing up beside her, as if he'd read her mind. Or maybe he'd just come to the exact same conclusion as her. Her question from before – _How'd you know where we were?_ – and the recipient's wordless answer was all they needed.

Bellwether didn't flinch when Judy asked. She kept smiling at her, her arms outstretched, still expecting Judy to hand the case over. Judy remembered her cheery tone when she'd found the two, almost leaping in her excitement when she'd first spotted the evidence in Judy's paws. Nothing about her seemed off. She was just another good mayor, overjoyed to finally have the source of her city's plague.

A week ago Judy would've been fine with that conclusion. But it was Bellwether's _eyes_ , of all things, that made Judy hesitate.

The moment Judy's question registered they flickered away for a millisecond before darting back to Judy. And when their gazes locked again Judy spotted a tiny glint in their whites –

Almost like _she_ had read Judy's mind, just as Nick had.

The silence stretched. Judy exchanged a glance with Nick, who had the same comprehension dawning on his face, then turned back to Bellwether. The mayor stared at the case, and then nodded at Judy. Still smiling. Still keeping her eyes wide and bright.

Judy made her mistake when she took a single step back.

In an instant Bellwether's demeanor shifted. Her smile slowly melted; Judy spotted her teeth clenching. Her white brows furrowed, and Judy's stomach coiled.

"Um…" Judy spun on her heel, Nick doing the same. "I think we need to g–"

They both froze. Judy's dread stopped trickling in and jabbed her.

Standing at the museum's entrance was another one of those sheep from the Night Howler lab. He stood firm, his arms out like a football player, as if he were preparing to catch Nick and Judy if they ever made a break for it. But from how he was cracking his neck and glaring daggers at the two, Judy could imagine he wanted to do way more than just catch them.

Nick said it just as Judy did:

"Run."

With that Judy whipped around and sprinted deeper into the museum, Nick speeding close behind her, Bellwether's ominous and furious command for her minions sounding behind them.

Every ounce of energy she had coursed through Judy's legs as she ran. She kept the case locked in a death grip under her arm. Her head pounded as the full extent of the realization struck her.

" _She's behind it…"_ her mind chanted, _"She's behind the Night Howlers… She's making the predators go savage… She's filling everyone with hatred for– "_

" _OW!"_

Judy threw her head back and let out a scream as she fell to the ground, the case clattering to the floor beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a ball, both paws clutching her right foot. Hot pain seared through her leg.

She heard Nick gasp. "Judy!"

Judy wrenched one paw away to scramble upright. "Nick, it's fine– "

She stifled a yelp when he suddenly scooped her into his arms. He looked down at her bewildered face, his own features hardening. "Judy, you cut yourself on a mammoth tusk. That's not fine," he told her sternly as he grabbed the case. He stood and, after quick contemplation, continued to run.

Judy stared at her bobbing leg. Her remaining paw's knuckles began to ache from how hard she was gripping it. Between her fingers she spied a long rip in her denim pants, extending from the middle of her knee down to the frayed edges.

Judy's eyes widened. Swallowing she turned her paw palm-up.

It came up red, and Judy paled once more.

" _What the heck did I_ do? _"_

Nick eventually rounded a corner and skidded to a halt. As he caught his breath he dropped to his knees, gently setting Judy against the wall. Another spark of pain jolted through her leg, and she bit her lip to hold in a wince.

"Nick, it's alright," she said once he caught her pained look. She sat up and held out a paw. "Really, just go and– "

"Oh, God…" Nick's eyes widened as he took her leg in his paws, running a claw along the rip in her pants. He stared at her, his brows knitting. "Carrots, you're _bleeding_ ," he whispered.

"Nick I'll be fine, seriously, it's just a scratch." Judy grabbed the handle of the case, pushing it towards her friend. "Just go. Get the evidence to the police department. Please. I swear I'll be– mm?"

Nick silenced her with two fingers to her lips. Any shock in his eyes had melted away, replaced with worry. "Judy, _no_ ," he said softly, shaking his head. His voice dripped sincerity. "You are _not_ okay. I'm not just gonna leave you here. Just…"

He turned his attention away, peering into the very next room. Judy tried to adjust herself to look too, but couldn't see anything past the wall.

"Just…" Nick stood, holding a paw out as if he expected Judy to bounce up with him. "Just hold on…"

Before Judy could protest further Nick disappeared into the other room, his feet soundless against the polished floor.

A rip split the air, and Judy's heart jumped. Her ears sprung to life, one swiveling around to listen behind her.

"Come on out, Judy! You too, fox!" Judy tensed at the sharpness of Bellwether's voice. "I know you're in there! Just come out, give me the case! No one will _ever_ be the wiser!"

Judy clenched a fist, her tiny claws digging into her palm. With just a few words Bellwether transformed for Judy. At first a sweet, kind lamb – and now…

Judy wondered what Bellwether really believed the label 'predator' meant.

"Okay, here we go…"

Judy turned her attention away from the lamb to find Nick kneeling in front of her, a long strip of cloth in one paw. He rested his free paw on Judy's injured leg and began to wrap the cloth around it. When the fabric first brushed the wound Judy winced, and Nick immediately stopped. He whipped his gaze up to look at her.

"Sorry," he muttered before getting back to work.

"N-No no, it's fine," Judy whispered back. But if she were honest with herself, she felt the exact opposite of fine.

"Oh, come on out, Judy!"

Judy's ears perked up again. Bellwether was calling for her.

"Why don't you come out and join me? I mean, aren't you _tired_ of being treated like this? Underrated? Unappreciated?" Each word felt like a stab, as if Bellwether thought she convince Judy to give up the fight if she accentuated every syllable.

" _Right."_ Judy furrowed her brow. _"Fat chance."_

"Ooh!"

Judy slapped a paw over her muzzle just as the squeak came out. She whipped her gaze back to Nick, who had both paws hovering over her thigh.

Judy narrowed her eyes. "What was _that!?"_ she hissed.

"S-Sorry…" Nick said, his paws quickly going back to her leg. He pointed. "Your carrot pen fell out. I was putting it back."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Oh, wow. Of all the things you need to focus on it's my stupid p–!"

"Aren't you just sick of it all? I mean, we outnumber predators ten to one!"

Judy snapped her jaws shut. She raised one ear again. She heard a pattering of footsteps growing closer, and her heart dropped.

Judy reached out and placed a paw on Nick's arm. "Nick, just go," she whispered, "They're coming, just take the case and– "

"Judy, no!"

Nick wrenched his arm away from her, staring at her with incredulous eyes. "Judy, I am _so not_ just gonna up and leave!"

Judy gestured a thumb behind her, her brow furrowing. "They're almost on our tail!" she countered.

Nick shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Letting out a long breath, he stood and looked towards the room where he'd retrieved the cloth.

Judy blinked. Just as the question of what he was thinking about formed on her tongue, he looked back at her, his expression determined.

"Wait there a sec," he muttered, then sprinted off again.

" _Don't exactly have a choice,"_ Judy thought with a silent snort.

"C'mon, Judy. Just think about it."

Judy shut her eyes, pursing her lips and pressing her ears down against her head. But somehow Bellwether's voice could still find her, taunting her.

"Ninety-percent of the city's population against a common enemy."

Judy cracked an eye open, and relief flooded her when she saw Nick crouching in front of her once more, though this time he had his back to her.

Just when Judy was about to ask what he did, he stood up and revealed it.

A stuffed jackalope, both claws wrapped around a tiny spear, its ears sticking straight up, much like Judy's when she was in a good mood.

It clicked. Judy stared up at Nick and, noticing his wry smile, smirked as well. "Oh, you sly fox…"

Nick chuckled as he took her paw in his own, helping her up to her feet. "Hey, it's the best I can do." Then he dropped the sly look. He rested a paw on her shoulder, staring her in the eyes. "Are you okay now?"

Judy shifted her weight to her bad foot, holding her breath as she did so. "Yeah…" She nodded. "Just… Just a little achy…"

Nick grinned again. "Good," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. He pointed towards the other room.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Judy, just _think_ of the _possibilities_! With preds out of the way, we'll be unstoppable!"

Judy clenched her teeth. She was just about done with that freaking lamb. She stared up at Nick.

"Yeah," she said firmly.

Then they were off.

After the first few steps her leg devolved from simple aching back to sharp painful jolts, so Nick offered to be leverage. But really, Judy could've cared less about how on fire her wounds felt.

As they ran Judy thought about every disgusting thing Bellwether had said – about predators being a common enemy –

Judy looked up at Nick's face. She saw the determination in his eyes, the surorising gentleness in his features –

Judy almost snorted.

" _Yeah. Common enemy, alright."_

She couldn't wait to get to the Police Department. She couldn't wait to present the evidence to Chief Bogo, to explain the entire conspiracy to reporters, to get those freaking sheep behind bars and release Lionheart – to see the grateful faces of every last wronged predator –

To see _Nick's_ proud face, staring at her from across the meeting room of the Police Department, as they both stood up for their first assignment as partners –

" _WHOA!"_

Nick's screech slammed into Judy, plunking her back into reality. When she saw who stood at the far end of the room, mere feet away from them, she too let out a gasp of shock.

Two of those sheep cronies ran towards them, arms outstretched. Between them stood Bellwether, and on her face…

Judy had witnessed a lot in the past few days. She'd seen a panther lose his mind and chase after her and Nick because of a poisonous flower. She'd seen a tiny arctic shrew try to send them into a freezer for one of Nick's past mishaps. She'd seen that same shrew's daughter almost get crushed by a stone doughnut thanks to a runaway criminal. But Bellwether's face…

Judy was certain she'd never seen such ferocity, such feral hatred in a lamb's face before.

It was enough to make her panic.

Judy stretched her feet out, hoping their rough pads would be enough to stop her. She did not account for Nick's sudden change in direction and, in a whirl of red and gray fur, she found herself tumbling forwards with Nick, his grunts of alarm piercing her eardrums.

Then she realized she couldn't feel the floor anymore. Before she could process how that could've happened, she opened her eyes and got a face full of red dirt.

"Ow!" Judy winced as she held her head, sitting up. She heard similar grunts from beside her, and she turned to see Nick, wiping dirt from his face and groaning.

A rush of dread flooded Judy's veins. Her breath quickened as her eyes darted around the area where they'd ended up.

It seemed to be an African savannah – or the closest the museum could model. Fake rocks and grass surrounded them, a single barren area opening up a path towards a watering hole, where a stuffed deer sat bending its neck for a "drink". A mural of trees and wide open plains covered the walls. Not a single door.

Judy's gaze met Nick's, and through silent confirmation they both knew.

They were trapped.

"Hmhmhm…"

Judy whipped her gaze upwards to see Bellwether walking up to the exhibit's edge, chuckling as she stared down at the two. She held up both hooves.

The case.

Judy's stomach dropped.

Bellwether caught Judy's wide eyes. She smiled and held the case higher, as if taunting. She cocked an eyebrow.

"Shoulda just stayed on the carrot farm, huh?" she asked, "It really is too bad. I mean, I _did_ like you."

Judy glared daggers at the mayor. "W-What're you going to do?" she growled, " _Kill_ me?"

Bellwether smiled again – that monstrous, sadistic grin. She laughed. "Oh-ho, no, of course not. I won't kill you."

Then her expression quickly hardened into fury. She aimed the Night Howler gun.

 _"He_ is."

Though it took a millisecond for it to register, Judy could do nothing to stop it.

Time seemed to move in slow motion. Judy stood rigid as Bellwether's words sunk in. The shot from the dispenser echoed in her mind, but not nearly as loud as the thump it made upon hitting its target and the dog-like yelp that followed.

Judy whipped around, the horrific realization already ripping up her heart. When she found what she dreaded her gasp ravaged her throat.

Nick had collapsed, lying on his side like a wounded soldier. He trembled, his body convulsing as the blue powder staining his neck took effect. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a few anguished groans and digging his claws into his head as if he were trying to rip the poison out of his system.

Judy was by his side as soon as his first moan of pain touched her ears. She put her paws on his convulsing shoulders, clutching the fabric of his shirt.

"Nick!" she wailed, _"Nick!"_

"Yes, Zootopia Police Department! There's a savage fox in the museum! Officer Hopps is down!"

Judy froze. Her ears flattened against her head, her brows furrowing. She whipped her attention back up to the opening of the exhibit, just in time to catch Bellwether pressing the end-call button on a cellphone. She slipped the device into her shirt pocket and, glancing at Judy, smirked.

Judy seethed. " _You_ …" she muttered through gritted teeth.

Bellwether cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, _what_?" she said, sweeping her arms outward, "You actually thought this would go any other way?" She pointed, her nose crinkling. " _He_ is only becoming what he was _always_ meant to be!"

Nick heaved a shudder underneath Judy's paws, bringing her attention back to him. She gently stroked his head, keeping her other paw firmly pressed to his side to curb his trembling.

"Nick, please…" she pleaded, refusing to let her fear shake her voice, "Nick, you can't do this, _fight_ it…"

"Oh, whoops!" Again Bellwether's mocking voice made Judy want to reach up and punch her. She prowled along the exhibit's edge, her sheep cronies following close behind her. She shrugged the arm carrying the dispenser, making it dangle. "Guess what, Hopps? You're wasting your time! He's not going to fight it!

"Especially since predators are _obviously_ predisposed to be _savages!"_

As soon as the word 'savages' left the mayor's mouth, Judy's world seemed to shatter.

Nick stopped twitching. A low rumble sounded from his throat, and Judy's blood turned to ice.

Judy leapt backwards with a gasp, her eyes growing wide. She watched as Nick got to his paws – all _four_ paws. Just when Judy's head started to ache from the desperate denials bouncing about in her brain, Nick lifted his head. And opened his eyes.

Judy's heart pounded. _"Oh no…."_ Her throat burned. _"Oh no, please Lord above no…"_

Any traces of the fox she knew had dissipated. All friendliness and familiarity had been drained from those eyes, replacing it with primal, animalistic desire. His now near-black gaze landed on Judy, and his pupils dilated. His muscles tensed, and he peeled his lips back, letting out a low growl.

He crept forwards a step.

Judy pushed herself backwards a tail-length, slowly shaking her head. "N-Nick…" she pleaded, "Nick, i-it's me… J-Judy…"

Nick flattened his ears to his head, taking a few more quiet steps. He kept himself low to the ground, his hackles rising.

Judy sat up, putting a paw out in case he decided to take action. Her gut churned; she knew what he was planning. Why else would a feral fox look at a bunny that way?

"Nick, _please."_ She was near begging now. "Please, Nick, you _can't_ do this– "

Nick unsheathed his claws and sprang.

Judy scrambled to her feet, letting her instinctual rabbit fear take control. When she collapsed into the dirt again, a dull ache spreading through her foot, she realized with sharp dread that she'd completely forgotten about her leg.

 _"No!"_ Panic seared her chest. _"No no no no no – !"_

Nick's teeth clamped down on her injured leg, and she screamed.

"Oh, now won't _this_ make an interesting headline!" mocked Bellwether from above, as Judy struggled to pull herself from Nick's grasp. "'Hero Cop Brutally Killed by Savage Fox'!"

As she tore at the ground, desperately trying to tear herself from Nick's jaws, a hurricane of emotions swept Judy up. Sharp alarm at the thought of being slaughtered – horror and sadness at the realization that her _best friend_ was going to slaughter her – desperation at her wishes for Nick to snap out of it – and white hot loathing towards Bellwether, for thinking this entertainment, just another stepping stone for her rise to power.

In the midst of her panicked thoughts there was a single, clear image: Nick, crying out, his eyes wild as he is forced into the persona of a savage, Bellwether cackling as she watches.

Even when Nick was dragging her backwards, his canine teeth tearing through the makeshift bandage and into her skin, Judy had a clear idea then of what she had to do.

She knew it would definitely hurt him – hell, if it did it would hurt _her_. But it was her best bad option.

As soon as Nick let go to take another bite out of her, Judy flipped onto her back. She reared her feet up despite the blood dripping from one of them. She tensed, anticipating his descent.

Nick growled again, baring his teeth. He slammed a paw onto Judy's chest, digging his claws in.

His head rushed forward, and Judy silently begged him to forgive her.

Judy shut her eyes, sucked in a breath, and kicked her legs out hard.

She had to bite her lip to keep from wincing when she heard Nick yelp in pain, biting down harder at the dull thump of his body hitting the ground. She scrambled upright, opening her eyes.

Nick sat on his haunches, his head low. He whined as he rubbed a paw over his nose where Judy had hit him. His eyes were shut.

Taking that as her signal, Judy sprang to her feet and ran.

Her bloodied leg screamed at her. It barely registered. She even refused the urge to look back and check if she didn't hurt Nick nearly as bad as she thought. As much as she hated it, she needed to get away from him.

Eventually, though, she realized Nick might've only aggravated her wounds even further.

Judy collapsed beside the wall, hugging her throbbing leg to her chest. She bit her lip to wrestle down the whine in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a few tears seeping past her eyelids.

She heard a crack, and her heart jumped. Her eyes snapped open, darting around.

The fake grass in the exhibit rustled. Patches of it parted, and Judy heard a sniffing noise.

Judy pressed her lips together hard. She sucked in air meticulously slowly, exhaled it just as tentatively. Her heart hammered against her ribcage.

She couldn't believe that her best friend was making her _this_ terrified.

"Hmm… Don't feel bad, bunny."

Judy looked up. Bellwether stood just above her, peering down. She had her lips pulled into a faux half-smile.

"He can't help it," the lamb continued, "It's just the way he is."

Despite her physical pain and terror, Judy shot her yet another steel-melting glare. "So that's your plan?" she said, her voice growing shrill with disbelief, "Prey fears predator and _you_ stay in power?"

Bellwether shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

A low growl split the air, and Judy snapped her head back down. And her heart went crazy all over again.

Between the blades of grass she saw Nick, still snarling, still creeping ever so slowly towards her. Spots of blood and spit flecked his muzzle. His eyes carried no warmth, none of the fox that Judy had known…

And yet when Judy stared into those eyes she still knew it was him. Somewhere in there, behind all the blood and claws and razor teeth, was Nick Wilde – a predator who'd wanted to demolish his stereotypes before they could destroy the city even further–

A fresh wave of hatred for Bellwether washed over Judy. She looked up at her, pouring every ounce of fury into her glare. "It'll never work!" she spat.

"Fear _always_ works!" Bellwether hissed back, her facial expression mirroring Judy's. She held up the Night Howler dispenser. "And I will dart _every_ predator in Zootopia to keep it that way!"

A low bark jolted Judy's attention away from the lamb again, bringing her back to her predicament. She gasped, her eyes growing wide as she pushed herself further into the wall.

Nick's entire head had emerged from the grass, his lips peeled back, revealing once again the teeth that Judy feared. He began to rise up.

Tears stung Judy's eyes. She thought about Nick before now, how much he cared for her, how sly and slick he'd acted, annoying the crap out of her one minute and the next making her smile –

And now he was gone. The same animal who'd saved her job and her life was about to tear her throat out, all because of a stupid _poison…_

It didn't feel like she was about to die. To Judy, the only death she was about to witness was her friend's.

Judy sucked in a breath. She had to try one last time.

She spoke, small and desperate:

"…N-Nick– "

Nick lunged. And sank his teeth in.

Judy screeched, so loud she felt her head would burst. It didn't stop Nick. He only clamped down harder on her body, tearing at her with his claws. Instinct made Judy bat at him with her own paws, but it proved futile. Again and again Nick ripped into her, blood pouring out, soaking her fur and clothing.

After the first six claw swipes a rush of wooziness gripped Judy's senses. Her paws' useless fighting began to slow, until it ceased completely. Though her heart continued its incessant rapid pounding her body relaxed. She sighed in fatigue, letting out small whimpers each time Nick found a new spot to bite into.

 _"Am I dying? I think I'm dying… what a way to freaking_ die…"

Judy's bad leg flared all over again as Nick slashed at it.

 _"Bellwether will go on… she'll control Zootopia… she'll keep blasting predators…"_

Judy's head ached. Every shallow breath she took only seemed to worsen the pain.

 _"And… Mom and Dad… Clawhauser… everyone will think I died because of…"_

Judy cracked her eyes open a sliver.

A pulsing haze coated her vision, blurring it. Yet she could still make out the dark, snarling blob hovering above her, her blood staining its face.

Judy heaved, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

 _"…Nick…"_

She shut her eyes again. The pain and blood loss swarmed her. She was vaguely aware of Nick still tearing her apart, mixed with what sounded like pattering footsteps, but the thud of her heartbeat drowned them out.

She thought she heard another noise. A new noise. A loud bang, then a cry, then a thump. But that might've just been her heart. It seemed to grow louder with each beat, sounding like a ticking time bomb.

Nick's face flashed across her mind's eye. Once.

Then she was gone.

~x~

Bellwether stared, dumbfounded. Silence washed over the room. She looked over the shaking, gasping elephant officer that stood beside her, her trunk firmly wrapped around a pistol.

Bellwether blinked as she processed the last few blazing moments.

Just when the fox started to rip the bunny to shreds the police arrived. Bellwether had given her partners the Night Howler gun just beforehand, insisting that they get their fluffy butts out of there. When she spotted the first cop bursting through the doors she put on her greatest act yet, in her opinion. She'd been a mess, blubbering in faux terror and fervently pointing towards the exhibit, begging the officers to "Please go help! The fox went savage and just attacked her! Oh, _please_ help her!"

She had not planned what had happened next.

That elephant officer – Bellwether couldn't recall her name for the life of her – had run to the exhibit first. Once she laid eyes on the scene below her she'd let out a shriek, leaping backwards a step. A very appropriate reaction, Bellwether thought – just as she'd expected.

She did not expect the elephant to reach for her holster.

Before anyone could do anything to stop her she whipped out her gun and fired.

When Bellwether heard the sickening _thunk_ of the bullet finding its target, followed by what could only be described as a dog's yelp, she knew instantly what had happened.

In the present Bellwether turned away from the elephant and looked down at the aftermath.

The bunny lay in a bloodied heap near the wall, deep wounds everywhere on her body. Her clothes had been shredded, stained crimson.

And next to her lay the fox.

He was even more motionless than the bunny, lying on his side. His eyes were wide open, and even from where she stood Bellwether saw they were glassy. His mouth was frozen in a snarl. Blood trickled down from a spot just below his ear, where the most damage had been done.

Bellwether blinked again. She couldn't believe it. Making the fox go savage – it made that cop–

"Oh. My. Goodness – _Judy!"_

Bellwether jumped at the new voice, pulling her ears down and grimacing. She just barely stopped herself from barking at the newcomer to shut up. She turned.

That chubby cheetah cop – the one who she usually saw munching on children's cereal at the front desk of the Police Department – had fallen to his knees, peering over the edge of the exhibit with a look of sheer distress on his face.

Another cop, a wolf, crouched and put a paw on the cheetah's shoulder, his eyes stony as he looked at him. "Clawhauser, don't you dare– "

The cheetah swatted his paw away and, despite his fellow officers' protests, leapt into the exhibit.

"Judy!" He jumped to the bunny's side, scooping her up into his arms. He ran a fat paw over her chest, most likely checking for her heartbeat.

 _"Yeah."_ Bellwether almost snorted. _"Good luck with that."_

"Judy!" His voice sounded close to breaking. " _Judy!_ Judy, c'mon, you gotta be okay! You just _gotta_!"

He whipped his gaze upwards then, revealing the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Someone call a medic!" he cried, "We gotta get her to the hospital!"

 **So how was that for a first chapter? I sincerely apologize if I upset anyone – I will admit, it was hard for me to write those last few scenes. But I went for realism, and I hope I achieved that.**

 **Anyways, hope this story has piqued your interests! See you in the next chapter!**

 **~Pixel**


	2. Revelations

**Hoo dee doo dee doo… *checks story stats* Whoa um… okay – three reviews, four faves, and** _ **nine**_ _ **follows**_ **within the first** _ **half a day of posting?**_

 **Um… *blushes*** _ **Thaaaaank yoooouuu**_ **:D**

 **In all seriousness, thank you all so much for that. Multi-chapter stories, sometimes even relatively short ones, can be a bit hard to write no matter how well I've planned them, so your support really does mean the world :3**

 **Anyway, I decided to get this one out today before my final exams tomorrow. Nothing like a bit of feelsy writing to curb your anxiety, eh? :3**

 **Anywho, with all that out of the way, please enjoy chapter 2!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zootopia. I guess I'll have to settle for all these plots I come up with when I daydream~**

Floating. Weightless. Lying on a bed of cloud. A very hard cloud – her body ached. Her mind was a blank. Swimming in mere strands of thought. Never swift enough to grab them. Darkness surrounded her.

Then, slowly, her mind began to ease. Small noises punctuated through the thick haze, barely comprehensible. She heard something. Her name. Something about an attack. Something about a museum.

Blurs of white dotted her vision. They disappeared just as quick as they came. She tried to reach out. Now came a collection of blurs – blue, black, gray, white, red, orange –

Orange… sunset orange…

A certain sharpness jabbed into her side, and she left once more.

~x~

Judy woke up to a splitting headache. Her brain throbbed. She wanted to moan, but didn't. She wanted to open her eyes, but couldn't. It felt as if her eyelids had been held down with tape.

Then, slowly, the tape started to lift.

Pouring every ounce of strength she could muster into her muscles, she cracked her eyes open.

The first thing she found was nothing but blobs. A pea soup-green background behind mere blurred shapes. One blob appeared to be a mix of brown and forest colors, while the other, sitting right next to it, was gray and pink with a constantly moving mass of magenta and blue smack dab in the middle of it.

Judy squeezed her eyes shut, waited, and then blinked a few times. With each blink her vision cleared a tad, until nothing was a blurry blob anymore. And even though her body still felt numbed, her heart soared at _who_ those blobs turned out to be.

Her father sat in a chair in the corner, his nose buried in what appeared to be that day's newspaper. And directly next to Judy sat her mother, her head bent over the mass of magenta in her lap. Neither of them smiled. Both their brows were creased, and Judy's mother in particular had stress lines running across her forehead.

Judy wondered what might've gotten them worked up, but then Mrs. Hopps stuck her tongue out in concentration and, her features hardening further, she pulled a needle and thread from the magenta. Then Judy realized what the magenta and blue were.

Her clothes. Her favorite farm shirt. Her denim shorts…

Judy blinked.

" _What…? What're my clothes doing over there?_

" _Actually… where the heck_ am _I?"_

With that, Judy let her eyes wander.

She lay in a pure white bed in the middle of the room, a bloodbag resting next to her with a tube in Judy's wrist connected to it. Sunlight streamed in through the open window behind her parents. A large flat-screen television hung on the wall opposite to her, a simple black clock ticking away right next to it. Though her joints ached, preventing her from turning her head too far, she could still spy a small sink bolted into place in the corner closest to the door.

A hospital room.

Even as she came to that conclusion, still Judy felt a prick of confusion in the back of her mind.

" _What on earth did I do to get me h– ?"_

"Judy!?"

Judy whipped her attention back around. Her parents stared at her with wide eyes, both looking as if she'd grown a second head. Her father appeared just about ready to leap out of his chair, one paw keeping an armrest in a death grip, while he slapped the other to his gaping mouth. Her mother sat rigid, pressing Judy's shirt to her mouth.

For a moment no one said a word. Then Judy smiled.

"Hey Mom, Dad," she croaked.

Judy's mother dropped the shirt. The shock in her face melted, replaced with relieved joy. Her eyes glistened.

"Judy…" Mrs. Hopps leapt from her seat and rushed towards her daughter, enveloping her into a crushing embrace.

"Oh Judy!" she cried, "You're awake!"

Judy's smile widened. She returned the hug, squeezing her mother as tightly as her aching limbs would allow. "Hey, Mom…" she said, "Y-Yeah, I'm awake…"

She heard her father's loud chuckling as he made his way around the bed. He wrapped his own arms around her, taking extra care to not jiggle the port in her arm. "Oh, my baby girl…" he cried, laughing all the while, "My baby's _alive!"_

Judy snorted as she patted her dad's arm. "Of course I'm alive, Dad," she stated, raising an eyebrow, "W-Why wouldn't I be?"

At this, her parents stiffened. They both stepped back, their looks of shock returning.

Judy's smile faded. "…W-What?"

Judy's mother knitted her bow. She took one of Judy's paws in her own and looked her daughter in the eyes.

"Judy." All joy disappeared from her voice. "Do you… Do you really not remember…?" She swallowed. "…W-What _happened?"_

Judy blinked. Her gaze met the blankets she was snuggled under. "I… I don't– "

Judy let out a gasp, her ears drooping. Her eyes widened.

In that split-second, the past day came sweeping back to her.

The museum. Bellwether. The Night Howler serum. A series of yelps. Growls. Watching her good friend transform before her eyes. Feeling _his_ claws, _his_ teeth in her flesh, tearing her apart. The world spinning as she lost consciousness. But right before her blackout, a certain noise piercing the air – a bang –

Judy's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Her mind replayed that bang – the following yelp – then the harsh, shudder-inducing thump of–

"…Judy?"

Judy looked back up. Her parents still stared at her. Her father approached a step and placed his paw over Judy's.

"Judy? What's wrong?" he asked, squeezing her paw, "Do… Do you remember now?"

Judy's heart thundered against her eardrums. Her breathing quickened.

"Where…" Her voice hardened. "…Where's Nick?"

The question seemed to drain the room of all its oxygen. Her father released her paw, and her mother stumbled backwards as if punched.

"Um…" Judy swallowed. Dread poked at her, jabbed at her. "Guys…? N-Nick… my… my fox friend… the one who was helping me with my first case as an officer…?" She stared up at her mother. "M-Mom– ?"

Her mother's face fell. She stepped backwards. She slapped a paw over her mouth, mumbling an "Oh no…" into her palm.

Now the dread sat like a rock in Judy's gut. She looked towards her father. "D-Dad…?" she asked. She didn't predict the tremble in her voice. "Do… Do you know…?"

Her father sucked in a breath, running a paw over his ears. "Sweetie, it's just that… Oh Lord, how can you…" He bit his lip, his eyes darting towards the ground.

Then, he sighed. He let his paws drop to his sides like dead weights. He reached into his overalls' front pocket and pulled out a touch phone. Turning it on he punched in a few letters, his lips pulled taut. Before Judy could ask what he was doing, he tossed the phone into Judy's lap.

"I'm…" He didn't look up from the floor. "I'm really sorry, Judy…"

Horror squeezed Judy's heart. Her paws gripped the phone.

Almost against her will, she looked down at the tiny screen.

Her father had pulled up a news site, and tapped on the article he wanted. With shaking paws Judy read through the article, her heart breaking with each new sentence:

" _Savage Fox Attack in Zootopia's Natural History Museum…"_

 _"The worst case of a savage predator attack as of late…"_

 _"The fox appears to be Zootopia citizen Nick Wilde…"_

 _"Police arrived just as the victim, newly-appointed Zootopia officer Judy Hopps, fell unconscious…"_

 _"The fox was shot in the head…"_

 _"Killed instantly…"_

"Judy?" Her parents tried to break through the haze. "Judy? Judy, you're crying. Judy, baby… why're you…? Are you alright?"

"I…I…" Judy's bottom lip trembled. Her breath hitched.

Then, unable to fight the tears any longer, she let out a wail, threw the phone down, and covered her face in her paws as she exploded into uncontrollable sobs.

Dead. Nick Wilde, the fox who'd saved her job, seen her as way more than just a hopeless, stupid bunny, understood her plight – dead. Killed. Murdered by the very city that she wanted to believe could accept him – and only after seeing him as a _lie._

Judy's parents were by her side again as soon as the first tear rolled down her cheek. Judy buried her face into her mother's dress, felt her father gently stroking her bobbing shoulders.

"Oh, Judy…" her mother coaxed, running a paw over her flattened ears, "I'm so sorry… if we'd known he was your friend…"

"H-He… I…" Judy hiccupped. "He… He never meant to– "

"No baby, it's okay," her father hushed her, "W-We're… We're just glad he didn't kill you…"

A fresh wave of tears washed over Judy. She gripped her mother's arms even tighter.

She didn't bother trying to convince them that Nick didn't attack her on purpose. She didn't even bother getting angry with them for even thinking that. All that existed in that moment was Nick – Nick, and those final, excruciating moments of his life.

They stayed in the embrace for God knows how long, long after Judy's tears dried. But with all of the crap that'd been happening to her as of late, she didn't care. She felt like a kid again, after she finished watching a sad movie, or even after her great-grandpa had died. She didn't have to worry very much. She had her parents' arms, their unconditional love, while she spilled her emotions out for them.

She had to allow herself this bliss. Even if Nick was still dead, still believed to have been a savage out for her blood – she needed this.

Eventually Judy had to open her stinging eyes again. She sucked in a shuddering breath and let it out.

Sensing their daughter actually relaxing, her parents released her.

Though she'd dropped the hug Judy's mother kept her paws clasped around Judy's. Stroking the back of her paw with her thumb, her lips curled into a warm smile.

"Are you feeling better now, sweetie?" she asked, her voice dripping with her standard motherly reassurance.

Judy wiped at her nose with the hospital blanket. She nodded, pursing her lips. "Mhm... a little bit…" She pressed her knuckles into her eyes to remove any remaining tears.

She blinked her eyes open, squinting at her once again blurred vision. Grunting she rubbed at her eye.

That's when she finally noticed the bedside table.

It sat to her direct right, holding up a small household lamp. But that alone was not what had caught her attention. It was the two items that lay next to the lamp.

Her carrot pen. And, resting atop that, her phone. Not a single scratch on either.

Her father caught her gaze and approached the little table. He picked up the carrot pen and twirled it in his fingers, grinning at Judy. "These were still in your pocket when they found you," he explained. He pointed to the pen. "Indestructible, this thing is."

It managed to put the tiniest grin on Judy's face. "Hey." She held out a paw. "Can I see it?"

Her father nodded and tossed it.

Judy cradled the pen, running her small claws over its many artificial grooves, scratching at the speaker at its base.

She remembered the last time she saw this little thing. She'd been with Nick – she'd been lying on the floor of the museum, her leg's wound half-bandaged, while Nick took the time to put the stupid thing back into her pocket, despite Bellwether and her minions coming after them –

Judy pressed her lips together hard. That fox. That freaking fox…

"Well…" Judy's father patted his wife's shoulder. "We'd best be off so Judy can rest, Bonnie."

Judy's mother nodded. She leaned forwards and kissed Judy's forehead. "We love you, Judy," she said, smiling, "We'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

Judy smiled back, rubbing her mother's paw. "Love you too."

After a few more kisses her parents left the room, leaving Judy with just her phone, her newly-sewed clothing, her carrot pen, and the cheerful chirping of the outside songbirds.

Judy heaved a huge breath, then sighed it out. She sank into her pillow. She stared at the ceiling. Her knuckles turned white from how hard she gripped the pen.

It wasn't over. Nick had still gone savage. The police had seen him attack her. The incident was in print, now probably plastered all over social media and news sites.

And Bellwether… she still roamed free… she still went after predators, instilling fear into the citizens' every pore…

And Judy didn't have anything to expose her.

Judy forced out a groan through gritted teeth. She lifted her carrot pen high, turning the speaker side to herself.

She gave a half smile.

"Welp…" she said aloud, shaking her head. "…Guess you were right about everything, weren't you? Dumb bunny…"

Her thumb found the replay button. Shrugging, she pressed it.

 _"Just think of the possibilities! With preds out of the way, we'll be unstoppable!"_

Judy jumped, letting out a shriek. She dropped the pen as if it were contaminated, crawling backwards into her pillow as far as she could go. She stared down at the pen with wild eyes, her mind replaying what just came out of it.

That voice… that shrill, infuriating voice…

 _"Guess what, Hopps? You're wasting your time! He's not going to fight it! Especially since predators are obviously predisposed to be savages!"_

Bellwether.

 _"Oh, now won't this make an interesting headline! 'Hero Cop Brutally Killed by Savage Fox'!"_

All from the other night.

 _"Fear_ always _works!"_

Recorded. Perfectly. Crisply.

 _"And I will dart_ every _predator in Zootopia to keep it that way!"_

As soon as the last sentence ended, it all clicked together.

Nick knew they had a nonexistent window of escape. He knew that Judy would slow them down, knew that there was no way that they could both make it out unscathed. Then he saw Judy's pen, falling out of her pocket. He erased the saved file. Pressed record. And put it back, knowing that it would hear Bellwether's every word…

Judy's ears shot straight up. A wide smile crept across her face. She picked up the pen, treating it as if it were some sort of guardian angel.

"Oh, Nick…" Then, giggling, "Oh _Nick_!"

Judy hugged the pen to her chest, letting the laughter burst from her throat.

"Oh Nick, you sly fox!" she laughed, almost kicking off the blanket in her joy, "I can solve the case now! I can save the city! I can save the predators! I can expose– !"

A loud knocking pulled her back to reality. She glanced towards the door and, her eyebrows rising in realization, she placed the carrot pen under her blanket.

"Come in!" she called.

The door swung open. Judy prepared to greet this new visitor –

And then her greeting fizzled away. Her face fell, her ears drooped. Every drop of blood in her face left it.

Standing there, eyes bright and smiling, innocent as ever, was Bellwether.

… **You guys probably hate me for that last bit XD**

 **I greatly encourage constructive criticism in the reviews. I'm always trying to become a better writer :3**

 **See you guys in the next one!**

 **~Pixel**


	3. The Wolf in Lamb's Clothing

**Sincerest apologies for this one being a bit late. I had to finish up school and a final project last week, plus I'm doing my best to practice some more original stories lately. Because of this, you can tell that I've been a bit distracted (and exhausted…). But now that I've got lots of free time, I'll be sure to make updates a bit more frequent for you guys.**

 **Now with all that said, please enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER:** _ **kzzzzt**_ **Mmmyessss, who is this? Oh? Oh, my sincerest apologies, but I am afraid you've called the wrong number – Miss Pixel has never owned Disney's** _ **Zootopia**_ **film or any Disney property in her lifetime.**

"Oh, Judy, _hi!"_ Bellwether gushed as she stepped into the room. "Oh, I've been so worried about you! How are you doing?"

Judy didn't move. She kept blinking, her eyes growing wider with each blink. The longer she stared at Bellwether's smiling face the more she dug her claws into the bed.

She felt the bulge of her carrot pen next to her leg, and her heart pounded.

As Bellwether approached she lowered her glasses, peering at Judy. Then she let out an exaggerated gasp, slapping both palms to her cheeks. "Oh, my _goodness_!" she yelled, her voice seeming to raise an octave every time she stressed a syllable, "Oh my, just _look_ at you… oh, you must be in so much _pain_!"

Judy didn't realize her mouth was still hanging open until she felt her breath on her tongue. She shut it, swallowing.

She tried to think of something to say – but everything she came up with was drowned out by a much louder question: _Why?_

 _"Why?"_ her brain demanded. _"Why? Why is…_ she _here? She… Why did she decide to…?"_

A pattering of footsteps snapped Judy back into reality. Behind Bellwether were two, from their black suits and earpieces, bodyguards, one a gazelle, the other a giant panda. Both were stoic as they followed the mayor into the room.

Then Bellwether suddenly halted, swinging an arm up into the air, stopping the two with the back of her hoof.

"Hold it, boys," Bellwether said, craning her neck to face them, "Would you mind waiting out in the lobby for me? I want to make this a more private visit."

Judy's eyebrow twitched. Some of her initial shock melted away, letting her crinkle her nose.

 _"Me? Alone with Dawn Bellwether?"_ She almost scoffed. _"In all honesty, I'd rather it was Chief freaking Bogo."_

The bodyguards nodded in unison in response to Bellwether's request. They stepped out without any flair, and though they didn't exactly slam the door, the sound of it shutting seemed to echo throughout the room.

And so Judy was alone. Injured and immobile. With the true cause of her plight standing just across the room.

For a while neither of them said a word. Bellwether still faced the door, which did nothing to calm her nerves. She shifted in her bed, pushing herself into more of a sitting position. She kept an iron-clad focus on the lamb, as if should she look away for a split second, Bellwether would lunge at her with an uncovered knife.

Just when Judy thought about clearing her throat to speak, Bellwether finally turned around.

Within a millisecond, she dropped her masquerade.

The brightness in Bellwether's eyes died as her features hardened. Her fluffy brows furrowed, her forehead creasing with loathing. Her upper lip curled into a sneer. She approached Judy, crossing her arms, stabbing the floor with every step. All sweetness her voice had possessed dissipated as she hissed,

"So. You still planning to turn me in?"

As soon as that voice – that mocking, _loathsome_ voice – touched her ears again, the rest of Judy's initial shock fizzled away, replaced with searing hatred. Her ears flattened against her head. She mirrored Bellwether's scowl, though hers contained a hint of disgust. "What do you _want_ , Bellwether?" she growled.

Bellwether stopped walking once she stood mere centimeters from Judy's bed. She leaned an elbow on the metal bedframe, making Judy scooch an inch away from her. "I'm just wondering if you still wanted to put me behind bars. I don't understand why…" She glanced at the bloodbag sitting to her right, then back at Judy, cocking an eyebrow.

"After all…" she continued, "…you _were_ almost killed by a savage predator…"

Judy bunched up the bedsheet in her paw to stop herself from punching her.

"Y- _You…"_ Judy blurted out, " _You_ did that! Nick was never a savage until _you_ forced him to be one!"

Bellwether pretended to examine her hoof, scoffing. "Again, I don't get your whining…" She sighed mockingly. "I mean, you explained it yourself, Judy. Preds are predisposed to kill prey. He would have gotten around to it eventually."

A flame burst just under Judy's heart. She jabbed a finger at Bellwether, her ears so flat against her head now that she thought they might cave in her skull.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Nick like that…" she hissed through clenched teeth, "…He would've _never_ hurt _anyone_ like that, especially not me. He's… He's freaking _dead_ because of you!"

The corner of Bellwether's mouth twitched upwards. "Hmm," she muttered. "One less mindless murderer in this city…"

" _None_ of the animals in this city are mindless murderers," Judy snapped back, "They only are because of _you._ You can _not_ keep up these lies. All you're doing is scaring everyone into a corner –"

Bellwether slammed both hooves onto the bedframe, actually making Judy jump. She lifted her head and herself, pushing her face into Judy's so their noses almost touched. She narrowed her eyes until they were merely slits.

"Try me, bunny," Bellwether growled, her voice low. She slowly shook her head. "You know exactly what I had to go through to get to the place I deserve. And I am _not_ going to let some wannabe _rabbit_ cop take it away from me…"

With that, Bellwether hopped back down, letting out a small huff as she pushed up her slipping glasses.

Judy adjusted back into her normal position, though she didn't dare unclench her muscles. She glared at the mayor, who now had her back to her. "You're free to leave," she stated flatly.

Bellwether didn't move. She stared ahead, at the door.

"You know…" she finally said, "…those were your parents I just saw in the lobby, weren't they?"

Judy blinked. Her face softened in her confusion. "Pardon?"

Bellwether gave a single nod, placing her chin in her palm. "They _were…_ " She clucked her tongue. "Your parents, Judy, they're still living on that carrot farm, correct?"

Judy stared at her, dumbfounded. "Uh…"

"Oh, don't worry. I know enough about them to realize they're not leaving that hidey hole anytime soon," she continued. "But… that partnership with the pie fox… that's a more recent development isn't it?"

Finally an image raced through Judy's head – that chubby fox, whom in her childhood, she'd thought was nothing more than a big-mouthed bully, now a charismatic pie baker.

But with the clarification came the slow, cold trickle of dread in Judy's stomach.

 _"What is she playing at…?"_

"You know, I just realized: your beloved parents, Judy. They're partnering with a _fox_." Bellwether held up her hoof again, picking at a nonexistent flake of dirt. "Now, I'm just tossing this out here, but…"

She now turned her head, revealing the glint in her eyes and the tiniest yet most devilish smile spreading across her cheeks.

"…don't you think that, with all of the predators going savage… that fox might just start to listen to those predatory instinctsof his _…?"_

The trickle froze into an ice block, lodging itself deep into Judy's gut. She felt herself pale, her jaw dropping as horror seized her heart.

 _"Oh no…"_ she thought. _"S-She… She can't be…"_

"I-I'm just saying, Judy, with your experience with foxes," Bellwether went on, "you must be utterly _terrified_ for your parents. I mean, at any second he could turn on them…"

She whipped her gaze away again, shrugging.

"Then again," she said, beginning to make her way back towards the door, "I'm just tossing stuff out here."

Judy swallowed to wet her drying throat. "Y-You…" She couldn't help the catch in her voice. "…You wouldn't… You can't be serious… He– Gideon doesn't even live in Zootopia…"

Bellwether shrugged again as she gripped the doorknob. "Hey. He's still a predator, Judy." She turned around. "It all depends if you still want to spill to Bogo…"

She squinted at Judy. Then she smirked.

"Oh. Would you look at that," she said, "Fear _does_ work."

She twisted the knob and left, shutting the door behind her.

 **And there we go! That's another one done! Yeah, I apologize that this one was pretty short. But in order for the structure of the story to work (i.e. certain cliffhangers), this one kinda needed to be a quicky. But you guys will be happy to know that the rest of the chapters will definitely be** _ **way**_ **longer than this one. :3**

 **As always, I read and love every single review I get. Your support definitely makes me want to write more, so thanks again for everyone who's reviewed, followed, faved, or even looked at this story :D**

 **AND as always, I will see you guys next time!**

 **~Pixel**


	4. The Key to Justice

**Before I begin this one, I just want to answer something that an Anon pointed out: if Nick is dead by this point in the story, then why is he tagged as a featured character? Well, without spoiling anything, even though Nick is dead, he still has quite a significant presence in this story, especially in the next few chapters. So that is why he is tagged.**

 **Anyways, on with the show!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Yo, Disney? Yeah, I dun't own it. Kay? Okay.**

For a long time Judy didn't move. She just kept staring at the closed door, still reeling from what she'd just heard. Her ears drooped.

 _"She… She couldn't…"_ her mind said. _"She couldn't possibly want to…"_

Then she recalled the incident in the museum – she remembered the zero hesitation in Bellwether's face when she held up the Night Howler dispenser, announcing that she needed to use Nick as a weapon against her.

Judy's shocked expression morphed into a scowl. She groaned, flopping onto her pillow.

"Right…" she muttered, "…she'd have no problem doing that…"

Judy winced, bringing her paws up to her eyes. She brought her aching legs up to her chest as well, but when her foot brushed something hard she froze. Slowly she reached down under the covers and pulled out her carrot pen.

Once she laid her eyes on the speaker's grooves she paled once more.

 _"She didn't…. Did she know about the pen?"_ Judy's paw went to her mouth as she realized. _"Oh Lord… did she hear me yelling? About the recording?"_

Judy groaned again, pinching the bridge of her nose.

 _"…How am I going to save everyone now?"_

"Excuse me? Miss Hopps?"

"Hm?" Judy snapped her attention back to reality, quickly shoving the pen into her pile of clothes on the bedside table.

Two nurses, a goat and a koala, stood in the now open doorway.

"I apologize for the interruption, Miss Hopps," said the goat, lifting the clipboard in his hooves, "but it's time we did some further tests on you. To ensure that you have no internal injuries."

Judy blinked. "Oh… Oh, yeah." She flung the duvet off of herself, already preparing to swing her legs off the bed. She grinned at the nurses. "Lead the way."

But as the two helped her to her feet, took extra care not to rip the tube from her arm, and lead her into the hallway, Judy realized that all she could think about wasn't Bellwether, or even how she could possibly turn her in now.

All she could think about was Nick.

~x~

 _Kzzzt_

 _"…another predator attack in downtown Zootopia, this time between a savage tiger and a– "_

 _Kzzzt_

 _"…the hippopotamus is in critical condition, but– "_

 _Kzzzt_

 _"…and now not even the police force can be certain whether we can trust predators– "_

Judy grumbled and pressed the channel button on her remote for the fifth time that afternoon. It had been two days since her encounter with Bellwether, and just a few hours since her last body test. She slumped in her bed, her head sinking deep into the pillow. She wouldn't even have turned on the television if she didn't have such a horrid case of boredom.

When she did, the very next thing she did was groan.

Another news channel popped up, and Judy growled in her throat.

 _"Jeez Louise…"_ she thought, _"Can't they report_ any _thing else?"_

She jabbed at the button again.

 _"…now here we have Chief Officer Bogo of the ZPD on the police attack yesterday."_

On impulse Judy's finger itched to press again, but this time she stopped herself. She settled the remote down, her ears perking up with interest.

Interest and, of course, creeping dread.

 _"Police attack? But… does she mean that one of our officers…?"_

She didn't have a chance to finish the thought. Chief Bogo's image appeared on the flat-screen, standing in front of the ZPD headquarters, a microphone hovering just in front of him.

He didn't seem angry. He didn't seem frustrated. He just looked… confused. Confused and, when Judy analyzed it further, maybe even… _saddened?_

"I… I really don't know what could've come over him…" Bogo was telling the off-screen reporter. He motioned towards the ZPD behind him. "He… We always enlist the best of the best in our main forces, and even though Clawhauser wasn't exactly our best officer, we still have no clue how he could've snapped."

The remote dropped from Judy's rigid paw, clattering to the floor. Her jaw dropped, her blood running cold.

She replayed everything she just heard.

 _"No… he can't mean…? He can't possibly mean…?"_

"But he's a predatory species, correct?" asked the reporter.

Bogo pressed a hoof to his forehead, wincing. "As much as I don't want to admit it, based on previous incidents…" He sighed, shaking his head. "…Y-Yes. He is a predator. And based on previous incidents, this could be the only explanation why…"

Judy stopped listening. She scrambled for the remote, doing her best not to rip the tube from her wrist as she reached out for it.

While she strained for it a flood of panicked, almost tearful denials swarmed her mind.

 _"He… He said_ Clawhauser _?"_

" _He… He couldn't have…"_

 _"Did he… who could he have attacked if he did?"_

 _"Oh Lord_ please _let this be some kind of cruel joke…"_

Her fingers finally found the remote's rubbery buttons. She gripped it in her claws and, pouring every ounce of care into not dropping it, lifted it back onto the bed.

As soon as it touched the bedsheet Judy clutched the remote and stabbed at the channel button, far quicker than before.

 _"C'mon…"_ She bit her lip, leaning forwards as she raced through the channels. _"C'mon,_ someone _must be still covering it…"_

Then her heart dropped when she caught a flash of brown-spotted tan fur.

Her heart thundering she switched back to that program.

The announcer described the attack just as every other announcer did – explained which predator was the culprit, which setting the scene took place in, and lastly, the victims in the situation.

Though this time, groaning in annoyance was the last thing Judy wanted to do. Instead, she let the horror grip her.

 _"Oh no…"_ She felt like she was back in the museum exhibit, watching Nick transform. She swallowed hard. _"Oh God no…"_

The footage onscreen matched up with the announcer's descriptions completely.

 _"…A particularly bloody attack at the Zootopia Police Department…"_

The ZPD's exterior, surrounded by wailing ambulances.

 _"…Numerous officers have sustained injuries from the attack…"_

The lobby was full of bloody, moaning officers, nearly all of them sporting deep slashes in their sides and throats.

 _"…But what has everyone in shock is that this predator was a member of our own police force."_

There he was.

In the midst of the attack, hissing and snarling as he lashed at his fellow officers, blood flecking his muzzle and uniform, his once jovial and kindhearted eyes now burning with feral hatred, was Clawhauser. Benjamin. Freaking. _Clawhauser._

Perhaps the friendliest officer Judy had ever known. Now warped by… by…

Judy slammed her fist onto the remote's power button, shutting off the television just as Clawhauser roared again. She tossed the remote onto the bedside table, not bothering to look at it when it fell to the floor again. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, feeling a searing flame bubble in her gut. She ground her teeth, her eyes burning.

Clawhauser… Nick… innocent predators everywhere…

All because of… because of…

Judy pulled down hard on her ears, squeezed her eyes shut, and reeled her head back.

"All! Because! Of _you!"_ she screeched.

She repeatedly slammed her head into her pillow, letting her frustration and hatred for Dawn Bellwether take over. Clawhauser was gone. He tried to kill his fellow officers, let the predatory stereotyping continue. All because of that damn _lamb…_

Judy smashed her head into the pillow one last time, now keeping it sunken in. She let out a long breath to release the last of her pent-up steam, her body slouching as she did so. She opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. She furrowed her brows, pressing her lips together hard.

There was no question now. Bellwether was tearing the city apart.

She needed to be brought to justice.

Judy turned her head. Her gaze found the plastic leaves of her carrot pen poking out from under her clothes, still in a rumpled pile.

Judy let out a long sigh.

" _It doesn't matter that Bellwether needs to be arrested…"_ she thought in defeat, _"…I still can't turn her in. She'll kill my parents. And– And even if I go to the ZPD, she's got cameras all over the city. If she sees me with the evidence she'll probably kill_ me _before I even make it…"_

Judy groaned, massaging her temples with her fingers. She dragged her paws over her heavy eyelids, over her cheeks and mouth. She opened her eyes again, glancing upwards. She snorted.

"Well, Nick…" she said aloud, "Think you can beam me any of your brilliant schemes? I mean, you always considered yourself a _sly fox…"_

She winced as she felt the familiar pang in her heart. She sighed, letting her paws drop to the bedsheets.

"You…" Now her voice came as a mere whisper. "…You would know what to do…"

He _was_ quite good at being a sleazy con artist, Judy silently admitted. She recalled the first time she met him, on her first day as a full-fledged officer. She remembered the sly looks on his face as he carried out his popsicle scandal, freezing and selling an already existing property. He especially looked satisfied as he split the cash between him and his little assistant…

Judy suddenly bolted upright with a loud gasp, her eyes wide. She blinked rapidly, her paw going to her forehead as she realized.

Nick's little assistant…. That fennec fox…

Judy slowly turned her head, facing her pile of clothes. She stretched out an arm, searching the pile until she found the smooth object she was looking for. She pulled out her phone, staring at the pawprint-covered screen.

Sucking in a breath she reached for the white remote attached to the side of her bed, pressing the CALL button with her thumb. The speaker came to life with a robotic blip noise.

"Excuse me?" she said into the grooves of the speaker.

"Yes, Miss Hopps?" answered the nurse on the other side.

"I… Can one of you bring up a phone book? I need to make a call."

~x~

"Hmm…"

Judy flipped through the yellow pages, paying particular attention to the F section. She squinted a bit as she scanned the names, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth in her concentration.

"C'mon…" she muttered, "…C'mon, where are you…"

Then she let out an elated gasp, her lips curling into a smile. She jabbed at the page.

" _There_ you are!"

Shoving the book aside Judy punched the number into her phone. Once the final digit was in she pressed CONFIRM, then held the phone to her ear, one of her feet tapping away under the duvet as she listened to the dial tone.

 _"Please pick up,"_ Judy silently begged, _"For the love of the city,_ please _pick up…"_

A few more seconds of the tone passed. Then it disappeared.

And deep, throaty voice asked, "…Hello?"

Judy could've squealed. "Oh, good," she sighed. "Um… Finnick? It is Finnick, right?"

The other side went silent. Then, "…Who is this?"

"Finnick, its Judy."

"…"

Judy's smile faded. "Judy? Judy Hopps?"

"…"

Judy growled, rolling her eyes. "Officer Toot-Toot?"

Another second of silence. Then Finnick finally answered, "Oh… Oh, right…"

Judy sighed. "Okay, good. Listen, I just really need your help. I know what's been going on with all the predators, and… I know how to fix it. But I can't do it on my own, cause I might get caught, so I need you to come down here and…"

Judy's voice trailed off. She pulled the phone away, rubbed at the inside of her ear, and put it back up there.

"Uh…" she said, raising an eyebrow, "Um… hello?"

She strained to listen. Still nothing. She couldn't even hear him breathing.

Judy pulled the phone in front of her face, tapping the screen to brighten it.

The CALL ENDED screen stared back at her.

" _Are you kidding me!?"_ Judy growled as she punched the number in again. _"He hangs up!? Why is he being so difficult!? He wasn't like that when I went to go find Nick! Why is he doing this_ now!? _"_

She confirmed the number again and held up the phone, letting out a frustrated breath through her nose.

When the call came back online, she heard Finnick groan loudly. "Okay, what do you _want,_ rabbit!?" he shouted.

"I just said, I need you to help me!" Judy said, "Thing is, I know what's making the predators go savage! I know who's doing it, too. But I can't get the word out on my own. It's a bit hard to explain, but it's way too dangerous. Thing is, I'm in the hospital right now, and I need you to come down here and pick up the evidence I found, and get it to the Police Department so we can – "

Judy stopped then, looking as if someone had just insulted her. She stared at the phone in the corner of her eye, her top lip curling.

"Did you…? Did you just _spit at me_?"

" _Pfft._ Yeah, I did," Finnick answered. He sounded frustrated, maybe even annoyed. "I don't see why I gotta help _you_ …"

"Why!?" Judy demanded, her own frustration reaching its breaking point. "I just said, I know how to fix everything! Why don't you wanna help me if I know how to fix – !"

"Cause _you_ got Nick _dead!"_

Judy flinched. All her fury melted away, replaced by cold discomfort.

Finnick hadn't sounded frustrated. He hadn't even sounded annoyed. Rather, in that moment, he'd dipped into untethered _rage._

And… had that been a genuine _tremble_ in Finnick's voice?

"I…" Judy stuttered, "F-Finnick, I– "

"Don't you get it, you stupid bunny!?" Finnick screamed at her. "Nick's dead 'cause of you! He's dead 'cause of all you prey animals! You're all thinkin' the same thing! Oh, preds like me and Nick, oh yeah, _we're_ the scum of Animalia! Sure, when all _you_ guys do is give us crap for stuff we didn't do!"

"Finnick!" Judy's voice grew shrill with desperation. "Finnick, I've never– !"

Finnick scoffed. " _Pff_ , yeah right! Do you know how much crap I've been getting' from prey species 'cause of your little speech last week!? I can't even walk one block without someone giving me the finger, or threatening to belt me!"

The familiar guilt returned, this time a twisted knife in Judy's gut. She tried again, "Finnick, please– "

"And _Nick…"_ Finnick's voice actually faltered on his old comrade's name. She might've been imagining it, but Judy could've sworn she heard him muffle a small sob.

"Nick… he's dead 'cause of cops like you…" Finnick growled. "That was the first thing that elephant did… shot him dead… didn't even do it to injure his foot or anything… just shot him dead…"

He was silent for a moment. Then, his voice harder and bitterer than Judy had heard from him yet:

"…Why in the _hell_ should I help _you…_?"

Judy realized she had her mouth hanging open and closed it, swallowing. She searched her mind for something to say, but always turned up fruitless.

The silence seemed to beat down on Judy's head.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Finnick?"

"…"

"Finnick."

"What?" Finnick spat.

Judy closed her eyes. She sucked in an enormous breath, held it, then let it out in a quick sigh.

"Finnick. I did not kill Nick," Judy said, "He was my friend. One of the best friends I've ever had. But he went savage. It wasn't his fault – someone made him do it. Someone we all know made him attack me. Actually, _that's_ why he's dead. That cop who shot him? She probably wouldn't have if he wasn't forced to attack me. If he wasn't forced to become a savage. And you know what? All he ever wanted was for all that bullcrap about predators and prey to stop. He told me how much it destroyed him. How much it destroyed his dreams. Now let me ask you this:

"Do you really think Nick would want you to act like this? To stand by out of your hatred for me, and let all that injustice keep going? To let even more predators like him be killed, because you keep letting the lies roam free?"

Judy waited. For something. A response. A sigh. Anything.

The silence stretched.

"…Hello?" Judy jiggled the phone. "Hello? Finnick, are you still there?"

Nothing.

Judy's heart sank to the pit of her stomach. She sighed. She brought the phone in front of her face, now fully prepared to hit END CALL.

"…fine…"

Judy's claw hovered an inch over the button. She slapped the phone back to her ear. "You… You'll do it?" she gasped.

She heard Finnick grunt. "Yeah, I'll do it. That's what I just said, didn't I?" he groused. Then, in a much quieter voice he mumbled:

"If… If it would make Nick happy, then… why the hell not?"

A loud laugh burst from Judy's throat. "Oh my God, Finnick, _thank you!_ Thank you so much! So… you know where Zootopia General Hospital is, right?"

"'Course I do. I'll be there in an hour. Don't wait up, bunny."

With that, he clicked out of the call.

Judy fell backwards into her bed, letting the phone drop from her fingers. She pressed her paws to her face, her body wracking with elated chuckling.

"Oh, Nick…" She laughed again. "Don't you worry, Nick. We're going to fix everything."

~x~

Finnick sighed and tossed the phone onto the floor of his van. He shut his eyes, pulling down on his ears and letting them spring back up again.

He thought about everything that bunny had said. She knew what was going on. She knew how to stop all this.

And it was all Nick had ever wanted.

Finnick furrowed his brow, resting his chin in his paws. He swung his legs over the edge of his tattered bed, letting his feet dangle.

Eventually he glanced up, at his van's roof. He sighed again.

"I'll help her, Nick…" he muttered. "If… If she can stop all this bull… I'll help her…"

 **Okay, I got this chapter out relatively quickly because** _ **this**_ **was definitely my most anticipated part of writing this story. I noticed how popular Finnick was with fans, and since he wasn't really developed too much in the movie beyond being Nick's right-hand-man, I figured I'd give him a more featured role.**

 **Just a few more chapters left! See you guys in the next one!**

 **~Pixel**


	5. Amendments and Apologies

**Okay… I am deeply,** _ **deeply**_ **sorry about lateness. I planned on getting this one out the day the movie came out on DVD, but then** _ **Finding Dory**_ **distracted me, and then I really couldn't focus much on writing at all, so…. yeah, I'm really sorry. Good thing we've only got a little bit left to go :)**

 **Anyways, thanks again for over forty follows! Please enjoy chapter 5!**

 **DISCLAIMER: You guys get the drill by now.**

" _Hey!_ You– _What_ do you think you're doing!?"

It hadn't taken very long. It hadn't even taken all that much effort. Judy was embarrassed that she'd expected Finnick to take longer than he did. In truth, he'd popped into her hospital room only just an hour after she'd hung up the phone. He'd been grumbly, yes, but he'd insisted he could get the evidence to the ZPD in record time.

"Let _go_ of me! Do you know who I am!?"

What _had_ taken a while – about a week or so afterwards – was actually wrapping up the case. This, Judy could understand. Based on plenty of famous police cases she'd studied back at the Police Academy, she knew just how long many of these could take.

"Get your filthy– _Hey!_ Just _where_ do you think you're putting your paws!?"

While they did have a clear piece of evidence, the ZPD still needed to carry out a more thorough investigation. They'd had to round up all suspected compliances, analyze the chemical composition of the Night Howlers, and – the one that Judy had been waiting for – organize a hearing for their suspected culprit.

" _NO!_ I am _mayor of Zootopia!_ You _can't_ arrest me!"

Judy gritted her teeth and swiveled her ears away.

It had been bad enough listening to Bellwether's protesting outside the Zootopia courthouse. Now her shrill, enraged squawking was dragged out into the open, along with the lamb herself.

Two rhino cops pulled Bellwether by her handcuffs, leading her to the police car parked just ahead. Innumerable reporters lined the streets, either snapping pictures of their former mayor or filming the proceedings for that night's ten-o'clock news. Bellwether didn't bother putting on a TV-worthy appearance, though; she jerked her arms about, kicking at the rhinos' heels, her glasses sliding halfway down her face as she wracked her head from side to side.

"Let _go!_ Let _go_ of me this _instant_!" Bellwether demanded, her eyes wide with fury, "You grazers don't know what you're doing! You don't have any right to– !"

In the midst of her rant, Bellwether suddenly trained her eyes on the very front of the crowd, where Judy Hopps, her bad leg supported by a crutch, stood watching.

Bellwether glared. " _You…"_ Then, in a voice bordering in furious hysteria, _"You_ did this to me!"

Judy didn't respond. She only crossed her arms over her crutch, mirroring Bellwether's glare.

As she passed her Bellwether dug her heels into the sidewalk, stopping the rhino officers in their tracks. She leaned as far as she could towards Judy, her eyes narrowed.

"Why did you do it?" Bellwether hissed, "I could've destroyed _everything_ you've ever loved! I could've killed _you_ just as easily! What could've _possibly_ possessed you to blab to your stupid Chief!?"

With each question Bellwether's voice grew louder, more wrathful. Judy didn't react to any of it. She stared on, her expression still stony.

"…What could've made _you,_ " Bellwether snapped, "still turn me in!?"

Judy blinked at the question. Then her features hardened. Her ears flattened against her head. She leaned forward, as far as her injury would let her, and stared Bellwether in the eyes.

"Well. Here's the difference between you and me, Bellwether," Judy answered, "I know that fear doesn't always work. It can _not_ work."

Now Judy sneered.

"Especially when you're afraid and you decide hide – and then, when you hide, you let innocents take the blame."

Bellwether opened her mouth to fire a retort, but it quickly dissolved into a startled yelp as the rhinos yanked on her handcuffs, pulling her away from Judy.

As she watched the officers shove Bellwether into the wailing police car, Judy felt herself relax. She straightened her posture, her ears perking back up again. She listened to the cop car start up, its exhaust pipe puffing out black fumes.

When it finally peeled off to what she assumed was Zootopia Federal Prison, Judy heaved a sigh.

Safe. The city was safe – _innocents_ were safe. Finally.

"Well, jeez…" snorted a deep voice next to Judy, "That lamb is one crazy bitch. You must be glad she's behind bars now, eh rabbit?"

Judy looked down, at the tiny fennec fox still refusing to make eye contact with her, his arms folded and ears low. She smiled, just barely resisting the urge to lightly nudge his shoulder.

"Yeah, well…" she said, "…it's what Nick would've wanted."

~x~

Judy knew the news would want her to speak to them again. She just didn't realize how quickly they'd want that to happen.

Just one day after she put Bellwether behind bars, Judy found herself behind the blue curtain of the ZPD recruit stage, brushing said curtain aside an inch, and peering through the hole.

The recently reappointed Mayor Lionheart stood at the podium, still droning on about his points-of-view on the past few months. Her fellow officers sat in perfectly lined rows in the field, and surrounding them stood innumerable reporters, notepads, pens, and cameras at the ready every time Lionheart said something new.

For a few moments Judy stared at their cameras, at their microphones. She then shut the curtain, letting out a sigh as she ran a paw over her flattened ears.

 _"Just breathe,"_ she told herself, _"You… you just have to state the facts. Tell them what you saw…"_

Something buzzed her thigh then, making Judy squeak in surprise. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Her parents' smiling faces and the text _Mom and Dad_ stared back at her, just above the Call button.

Judy winced. She lifted an ear, angling it towards the curtain.

"…but I now understand that, as good as my intentions were, the predators I imprisoned did not deserve such treatment. And so, to avoid situations like this in the future, I am enlisting a team of elite chemists to develop evaluations to test for substances in animals' systems, substances such as the Night Howlers…"

Judy smiled to herself as she hobbled towards the back of the room. _"A quick check-in can't hurt. Lionheart's not gonna be done for a while."_

Once she was close enough to the back wall to lean on it, Judy brought the phone in front of her face and hit Confirm Call.

Her parents both seemed to be standing in their kitchen, both outstretching an arm to hold up the phone on the other end. As soon as they saw Judy, both their faces brightened.

"Hey there, sweetie!" her mother called.

"Hey, Jude-the-dude!" her father chimed in, waving with his free paw.

Judy grinned back. "Hey guys," she answered. "How is everything over there?"

"We're doing just fine," her mother said, "But… Judy, listen," she added before Judy could say anything, her smile fading a tad as she ran a paw over her ears, "We're sorry we couldn't make it to your big speech today."

Judy's father nodded, scratching at his cheek. "Yeah, sorry Jude, but we got a huge order of carrots and blueberries to fill out before tomorrow, so we gotta– "

Judy chuckled, shaking her head. "No, Dad, it's fine. Really. Work happens. I get it."

Judy's mother's smile then disappeared completely. She peered at her daughter with squinting eyes, and then pulled back, knitting her brows as she stared Judy in the eyes.

"Judy," she said, her voice now laced with concern, "Sweetheart, why're you so nervous?"

Judy's own grin faded. Her stomach churned. "What… Wh– How can you tell?"

Her father squinted. "Oh yeah, she is definitely nervous, Bon," he said, nodding at his wife. He pointed. "Her nose's twitching like there's no tomorrow!"

Judy slapped her free paw to her face, right over her nose, which she forced immobile when she heard her father point it out. Her cheeks warmed. "N-No no no, I'm just…" she mumbled.

Then Judy sighed, her ears drooping once more. She squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Okay, fine…" she groaned, "I just… did you guys ever hear about my speech a few months ago? After me and Nick exposed what Lionheart was doing with those predators?"

"Well, yeah," her father answered, nodding, "It was all over the news."

"Right. Well… thing is, I…" Judy pursed her lips, staring at the floor.

"…I guess I'm just scared of screwing up again…"

"Judy…" Her mother actually looked shocked. "But… Judy, how could you have– ?"

"That other speech! _You_ remember!" Judy snapped back. Then, in a much softer tone, "I was… I said so many things that were just… _wrong._ I made it seem like predators were to blame, and I– "

Judy winced, the resurfacing memory feeling like a hot poker in her gut. She shut her eyes and saw it – she saw _him_ – staring at her in furious disbelief– prodding her with loaded questions– all to make her realize how much she'd hurt him –

"Judy?" Her mother's calm, soothing voice brought Judy back to reality. "Judy, what happened? What happened with that speech?"

Judy opened her eyes, her heart heavying.

"I…" she muttered, shaking her head, "M-My… my fox friend… Nick… everything I said about predators….

"…He thought I was talking about _him_ … He thought I didn't trust him because of those savage predators…"

Her words hung in the air like a smoke cloud, no one daring to speak. Judy kept her eyes on the floor, that same shame and disgust with herself she'd first felt after her confrontation with Nick striking her again.

"…Judy."

Judy clenched her teeth.

"Jude, come on. Look at us."

Judy sighed. Biting the inside of her lip, she looked back at the phone.

Both her parents were smiling at her, their eyes glistening with empathy. Only her mother held the phone up now, but from the way she angled her arm, Judy felt as if she wanted to reach out and stroke Judy's ears, just as she always did when Judy was little.

"Judy." Her father, who tended to face problems with only a joke and a laugh, mirrored his wife's classic motherly expression as he spoke. "You're not going to mess up. That was then. This is now. You know what really happened now."

Judy's mother nodded. "Yes, and your friend– Nick– I'm sure he's overjoyed to know that you've done this. You know what's true now. About him. About your assistant mayor, and about all those predators. It's really okay. You can do this. Just… Just tell them what you know, Judy.

"You've done incredible things before. You _did_ something incredible for your city, _and_ for your friend. You can do this."

A few moments passed as the words sunk in. Then Judy felt herself smiling. She chuckled, lightly shaking her head.

"Man, that's…" She barked a laugh. "…You guys sound like me. From three months ago…"

Judy's parents laughed as well, relieved that their daughter had listened to them.

"Heh, well then," said her father, his usual carefree, jokester attitude returning, "is that a good thing or no?"

Judy giggled, shaking her head. "No, Dad. It's great. It's– "

"Hopps?"

Judy's chuckling quickly morphed into a startled yelp once she heard the booming voice. She stood straighter, her ears perking up as she lowered the phone.

Chief Bogo stood on the other side of the room, his arms folded as he glared at Judy. He motioned towards the curtain.

"Lionheart's been saying your name three times now," he grumbled, "You're up."

Judy's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, um…" She brought the phone back up to her face again.

"I gotta go," she told her parents. She smiled and gave them a thumbs-up. "Wish me luck!"

"Oh, like you would need it!" said Judy's mother. Then she quickly added, "Oh, and Judy?"

Judy's thumb hovered over the End Call button. "Yeah?"

They turned towards each other, sharing a look of confirmation. They looked back at Judy, and Judy swore she could spy the beginnings of tears in their eyes.

She couldn't help the flutter in her heart when her parents told her something she never thought she's ever hear:

"Judy, we… we're so proud of you…"

Judy's chest warmed, her smile spreading farther than ever before. "…I… Thanks, guys…" she whispered, "I… I gotta go speak now. I'll call you later, 'kay? Love you."

And with that, Judy clicked out of the call.

"Hopps."

"Oh, right! Sorry, I'm coming." Judy slipped her phone back into her pocket and, adjusting herself on her crutch, began to make her way towards the door.

 _"I've done incredible things,"_ she told herself, resisting the urge to smirk, _"I don't need luck. I saved the city–_ we _saved the city. Me and Nick._

 _"There's no way I'm letting my stupid mouth ruin anything."_

"And, um… Hopps?"

Judy halted, her paw on the doorknob. She looked up, her ears perking up with interest. "Yes?"

For once Bogo wasn't looking her in the eyes. He scratched at the back of his hoof, muttering, "Well, I…"

His gaze finally found her. And when it did, he managed a tiny smile.

"Good luck, Hopps," he said, far softer than normal.

Judy blinked. Then she grinned back.

"Thanks, Chief."

~x~

"And so, to wrap up this case," Lionheart said, already beginning to step away from the microphone, "It is with great pleasure that I present the case cracker herself, labeled by her fans as Zootopia's hero, the Police Department's very own Officer Judy Hopps!"

As Judy approached the podium she had to force herself not to swivel her ears away from the crowd. Every single animal jumped from their seats, cheering and whooping and howling and trumpeting. Judy smiled as she stepped onto the platform, waving with her free paw.

"T-Thank you," she muttered into the microphone, "Thank you all…"

The crowd only seemed to get even more boisterous when the first syllable left her mouth. But now that she could clearly see the heads of every animal, she spied something incredible.

Every single predator in the crowd stood on their chairs, to Judy, hollering louder than any other occupants. Some chanted her name, and some, Judy realized, were actually weeping.

She recalled what Finnick had told her over the phone a couple weeks ago. He'd said he couldn't walk one block without someone giving him grief about being a predator.

 _"It couldn't have been much different for any other predator…"_ Judy thought.

Her smile grew. Warmth flooded her chest.

 _"Are you seeing this, Nick?"_ she asked silently, _"Can you see how many animals you've saved?"_

Judy waited for the crowd's cheers to die down. Once all she could hear was the quiet chirping of a far off bird, she cleared her throat.

"Well, then. Hello, everyone. So…" She chuckled. "Well… if what Lionheart said is any indication, you all clearly know who I am– "

And just like that, the crowd went wild all over again. Judy laughed again as they let out any remaining whoops.

"Yes, yes, you all know me. Whether you know me as just Judy, or Officer Hopps or, maybe even– " She held up both paws and created air quotes. "–'Zootopia's hero'… you will know me."

Judy's smile lowered in intensity then, now just a soft curl in the side of her mouth. She looked at the floor, her eyes growing solemn.

"…But… what you probably don't know," she said, "is that I am not the sole hero here."

Just as Judy expected, a series of puzzled murmurs swept through her listeners. Her ears twitched, picking up a few of the whispers.

"Excuse me?"

"She didn't do it on her own?"

"She did the missing mammal case on her own just fine. Why'd she get help for this one?"

"She's a pro! Why would she get help?"

"Never mind _that_ – who on earth she'd get help from?"

"I… I can see that many of you are confused," Judy said, loud and clear, silencing the crowd once more. "Many of you don't seem to believe that I didn't solve this one my own. But see… I'm just one bunny. I'm just one mammal."

She smiled again.

"And if it weren't for these two good friends of mine… you would all still be living in fear of one another, wanting nothing to do with your predatory neighbors.

"The perpetrator, Dawn Bellwether – the thing was, she had a predator attack me on purpose. She meant to kill me –" She motioned towards the bandages on her foot and torso. "– to make sure the chaos continued. So that she could stay in her place of power, and stop me from exposing her plans to continue the prejudice. Now, from what you can all see, she did not kill me – however she did manage to stop me from turning her in. And this is where…"

Judy paused, looking over the podium and scanning the crowd.

She almost hadn't expected to see him.

Finnick stood right in the front, squished between a rhino and a camel. He caught her gaze, and he scowled, crossing his arms and raising his hackles. He glared at her, shaking his head.

"Not. A. Single. _Word…"_ he mouthed, his brows rising on the "d" in "word".

Judy grinned, a single chuckle escaping her. She went back to the microphone, looking over the entire crowd again.

"…and this is where the first of my friends stepped in.

"Now, for privacy reasons, this friend wants to stay anonymous, but… that does not at all make his assistance any less valid. Now, he did not want to help me at first. He is a predator species. I am a bunny. He saw me as the reason why he kept getting undeserved judgement, and figured he should've stayed away from me at all costs.

"But he realized that if he didn't help me, we would very likely lose Zootopia. His unfair treatment would've only gotten worse, until no animal could look at prey or predator without seeing a bigot, or possibly even a monster. And even though I know that if he were listening this would probably make him blush…"

Judy couldn't help her ensuing grin.

"…I applaud him for putting aside his prejudices to save his fellow mammals."

A chorus of clapping followed her final statement, punctuated by a few whistles. On instinct Judy looked back at Finnick.

He still had his arms folded, still had his ears down. But now he stared at the ground, scuffing a foot at a patch of grass. He chewed the inside of his mouth, and Judy could've sworn she could spot a hint of embarrassment – or was it pride? – in his cold hazel eyes.

Judy fought back the snicker in her throat. Somehow she knew that Nick would be proud…

Judy let out a small gasp then, her skin suddenly prickling with realization. A dull ache spread throughout her chest.

She swallowed hard. _"Okay… now the big one… I know it hurts to think about what happened to him, but… just talk about him. Remember what Mom and Dad said._

" _They_ need _you to talk about him."_

Judy shut her eyes. She sucked in a huge breath, and then let it out in a soft sigh. She opened her eyes, their lids now a smidge heavier than before.

" _Nick…"_ she thought, _"…I… I really hope you don't mind this…"_

"…But…" she said finally, loudly and confidently as she could muster, "…I personally believe that the real hero Zootopia is… was one of the best friends I've ever had.

"His name was Nick Wilde. And, just like my other friend, he was a predator. A fox, in fact. And, you might recall, _I_ was attacked by a savage fox, and that fox was killed in order to protect me. He was that fox."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, some animals even pressing their front paws or hooves to their mouths in their shock. Judy's heart jerked. She tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat.

" _Keep going,"_ she told herself, _"They'll never know the whole truth unless you keep going."_

She took a few more moments to compose herself. Then, forcing her voice not to waver, she continued.

"See, Nick was… he was the one who saved the evidence for me. He was the one who tried to save me and the evidence, even when he knew that he might end up brainwashed, just like all those other preds. But all he wanted was for the brainwashing to stop. He wanted the prejudice to stop. He was a victim of the prejudice, for much of his life in fact, just like many other predators. He had suffered through too much of it. He wanted to save us from it. He wanted to save this city from it. And even though he clearly could not live to see this day…"

A mild sob suddenly sprang out of nowhere, making Judy slap a paw to her mouth to stifle it. She squeezed her eyes shut, digging her claws into the podium as her ears flattened to the back of her head.

When she opened her stinging eyes again a sea of concerned faces stared back at her. She took in a breath, swallowing hard as her eyes filled with tears.

"And… and even though he could not live to see this day…" Judy flashed a shaky smile. "…I am sure that he is pleased… with how much Zootopia has changed…"

~x~

As soon as the last reporter and fan left the field Judy snatched her crutch, clenching her teeth as she raced through the curtain behind her, her free paw already reaching out for a wall to lean on. Once she found one she pressed her fingers to her closed eyes, feeling the tears pool under her lids. She took in huge gulps of air, each one forcing a small shudder down her spine.

And yet, despite her stinging eyes, burning throat, and achy heart, Judy felt herself smiling.

 _"Well, Nick. You did it. You finally got the respect you deserved._

 _"Are you… Are you happy with– ?"_

"Miss Hopps."

"What– ?" Judy whipped her head up, her voice strangled thanks to her tightening throat.

Chief Bogo crouched beside her, one arm leaning against his leg. He had his other arm outstretched towards Judy, and between the clefts of his hoof he held out, of all things, a tissue.

"Here," said Bogo. His eyes were surprisingly calm for his standards – calm and, much to Judy's astonishment, very _kind._

"Here," he said again, "You look like you need it."

Judy blinked. Then her face crumpled. She sniffed, snatching the tissue from his hoof. She screwed her eyes shut and pressed it to her nose, now finally letting the tears roll down her cheeks.

"…T-Thanks, Chief…" she mumbled, "I… I didn't…" She laughed into the tissue, shaking her head. "…I didn't mean to get so em _otion_ al…"

"No, no, I understand," Bogo said. Judy heard the floorboard creak as he stood straighter again.

Judy heaved another huge sniff, wiping the last remnants of her tears from her eyes. Clearing her throat she crumpled up the tissue, then shoved it into her back pocket, making a mental note to find a trash can later.

"…So… Miss Hopps…" Bogo said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Judy replied, looking up at him.

He appeared to be doing his best to avoid her gaze. He stared at the wooden ceiling, tapping at the back of one of his hooves.

"That, uh…" Bogo said, "That fox. The one you said helped you with the case…"

Then, in a much softer tone, he asked: "…Was what you said about him true? Was he your friend?"

Judy pursed her lips. She looked at the floor, nodding. "Yeah…" she muttered, "… Yeah, I meant it all." She sighed, running her paw over her flattened ears. "I… I only really knew him for a few months, but– "

"Miss Judy?"

Judy's mouth hung open. Her ears shot straight up, her eyes growing wide.

 _"He… did he just call me…?"_

Judy looked back up at Bogo, her nose twitching with curiosity.

And felt like she was staring at a parallel universe.

Bogo's ears were droopy, not unlike how Judy's would be when she was in a poor mood. His shoulders sagged, his hooves dangling limp at his sides. And his eyes…

Judy tried to remember the last time Bogo's eyes looked that saddened, that hopeless. She turned up nothing.

Judy blinked. "Um… Chief…?"

Bogo sighed. "Miss Hopps, I'm…" He lifted his gaze then, and stared Judy in the eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry."

Judy blinked, a puzzled expression crossing her face. "I…you're sorry?" she asked. "I… Chief, you don't have to apologize for Nick, I swear I'm fine now– "

"N-No, it's not that," Bogo interrupted. He went pack to fiddling with his hooves. "It's…" He puffed out a sigh, averting his eyes again. His brow furrowed.

"It's… I'm sorry, for… for everything. Putting you on parking duty, that wasn't… I was wrong to do that, I was just…"

Judy's eyes widened. _"Oh…"_

Then she smiled. She chuckled, shaking her head as she reached out, patting Bogo's arm.

"Chief, it's okay. Honestly," she said, "You don't have to apologize for that. You were just doing your job, I'm sure."

Bogo glanced at her, his eyes searching hers for a moment. Then he cleared his throat, straitening his stance as he crossed his arms.

"Yes, well…" he said in his usual gruff tone, "I must've been doing my job very poorly then, hadn't I? If I made such a stupid mistake…"

Judy chuckled. "Heh. Well… by now, haven't we all made that mistakes like that?"

~x~

After her speech about Nick Judy thought she was done receiving bucketloads of praise. Then she walked back through the revolving doors of the ZPD.

A couple of officers stood about the room, conversing and discussing assignments. Once they spotted Judy wandering by however they all instantly stopped their discussions, smiled, and waved a hello. Judy grinned and returned the waves.

"Hey."

Judy stopped, turning towards the hippo officer she'd just passed. He grinned, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Hey," he whispered again, "Great job on that Night Howler case, Judy."

Judy smiled back, dipping her head. "Thanks."

"Eh, no problem. Hey, uh…" he added before Judy could carry on walking. In an instant his cheery attitude shifted to one of concern. He pointed a finger at something behind Judy.

"When is…" He sucked in a breath through his teeth, rubbing the back of his neck. "…Do you know when Clawhauser is coming back?"

Judy turned around, already understanding what her fellow officer meant.

The reception desk was still there, smack dab in the middle of the room. But no one stood behind it. No bright golden nametag sat on the desk. No personal trinkets or mugs, and certainly no candy sprinkles or empty cola bottles.

Judy pressed her lips together, letting out a gust of a sigh.

"Well," she said, "They've been testing for Night Howler antidotes, and from what I heard this morning they've got one that really works. I don't know when he'll get out of rehabilitation, but…."

Now Judy let herself smile.

"…I'm just glad he's gonna be fine."

Judy blinked, and she could see him, back behind his desk, his eyes filled with excitement as he set his station back up. She imagined how overjoyed he'd be when he'd see her again– imagined how his fellow officers would react to seeing him again– now, would they greet him with weepy hugs, or with boxes of donuts? The thought made Judy giggle.

"…He _did_ get me."

Judy whipped around again, looking back up at the hippo. "Excuse me?"

The hippo officer said nothing. He simply rolled up his right sleeve, right up to his elbow. He pointed to a specific area on his forearm, and Judy's eyes widened.

A series of scars stood out in his flabby skin. They were mostly deep slashes, but right in the middle of his arm was an unmistakable half-moon of sharp indentations. Teeth marks.

Judy's ears drooped, her eyes widening. "Clawhauser did _that_?" she asked, pointing.

The hippo nodded. "He got me right before we caught him," he said, smoothing his sleeve back down, "Had to hold him down. Put a muzzle on him."

Though his steady tone never changed, Judy still detected a tiny hint of a strain in his voice as he recapped the attack.

Judy sucked in a breath, switched arms on her crutch, and reached out and patted the hippo's side.

"Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up about that. It wasn't his fault. It was the plant's fault. And, just between you and me…"

Judy gave a half-smile, motioning towards her bad leg.

"…I do know a thing or two about being attacked by a friend."

The hippo raised an eyebrow at her. "A brainwashed friend?"

"Yeah…" Judy then cleared her throat, standing straighter. "Well then, I must be going."

"Oh!" The hippo scurried backwards a few steps, waving his hands in front of him as if he were swatting away a swarm of flies. "Oh man, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize I was holding you up– "

His sudden hurried apology actually made Judy laugh. She shook her head as she passed him, waving a dismissive hand at him. "No no, you're completely fine!" she told him as she entered the nearby hallway, "I just gotta go check on something. I'll tell you when you guys can see Clawhauser again, 'kay?"

"Take care!" she heard him call, "I'll be waiting for the news!"

But as Judy carried on walking through the hall, she found that the officer's comments were sticking with her. She kept thinking back to the day she found out, when she was lying in a hospital bed, staring in horror as her television screen showed Clawhauser doing to her coworkers what Nick had done to her–

Judy's ears drooped, her gaze falling to the floor as she realized.

How was Clawhauser going to react after they cured him? How would he feel about attacking his coworkers, possibly even his good friends? Even if he knew it was a flower that had forced him to do it…?

Judy lifted her gaze. Shiny elevator doors stood tall in front of her. Pressing the Up button, she stepped inside.

But as she listened to the elevator's gentle humming as it lifted her to the floor she wanted, all thoughts of Clawhauser left her mind. Her good foot tapped away as she remembered why she was even roaming in the ZPD in the first place.

The elevator stopped at Floor 5. Judy exited, entering a hall lined with semitransparent doors, each one sporting a single line of bold, black text. Judy scanned the doors one by one, and then pushed open the one with a freshly-painted label: **Officer Judy Hopps**.

The room was near barren, save for the small cubicle in the corner. Judy felt her heartbeat quicken as she hobbled her way towards it.

Everything was placed the exact way she'd remembered it. Her computer in the center of her desk, her screensaver of her parents giving her a bearhug staring back at her. A tiny potted plant on the side, right next to a wire cup stuffed with pens and pencils. A golden tag sitting next to her keyboard, flashing her name. Nothing had collected dust the whole time she'd been away – then again, someone could've just cleaned everything before she got here.

Judy sat down in her computer chair, setting her crutch down beside her. She ran her paw over her keyboard, over the mouse, making her screensaver disappear. The computer's desktop blinked into existence, as if welcoming her. She reached out and picked up her nametag, turning it over in her paws, feeling the indentations of the text in the metal.

For what felt like a solid minute Judy sat there, staring at the nametag, at the "Officer" title preceding her name. Then her lips slowly curled into a smile. She pressed the tag to her chest, lowering her head. Wisps of laughter hissed through her teeth.

She knew she still wouldn't work in here again for another few weeks or so. She knew she still needed to heal. She still needed to check into the hospital every few weeks, just to make sure she didn't reopen any of her wounds. But for now she let herself relish in this moment, already imagining how happy she'll be when she can finally live her dream once more.

 _"Well, Nick. We did it. We made a difference. And because of you, I can keep making a difference– "_

"Miss Hopps?"

"Hm?" Judy's head snapped back up, her eyes growing wide. Her ears shot straight up, swiveling around towards the new voice. She turned her head, looking over the edge of the cubicle, the question of who it was already forming on her tongue.

An elephant officer stood in her doorway, her trunk wrapped around the knob. She cleared her throat as she pulled at her shirt. "Um… I'm sorry, are you busy at the moment?"

Judy's heart skipped a beat with recognition. "Oh, hey," she said, spinning her chair around so she could face her directly, "You're Francine, right? Did you… Do you want to talk to me about something?"

Francine took a moment before nodding. "Y-Yes, I…" She paused, and then swallowed as she walked further into the room. "I, um… I _do_ want to talk to you…" she added, shutting the door behind her.

Judy's smile faltered. Her ears fell a bit.

That last sentence had been mumbled. Francine kept scratching at the backs of her front feet, kept her head lowered, and as she approached her Judy noticed a slight sluggishness in her walk. She never really talked to the other cop all that much, but from what she had observed from her interactions with her fellow officers, Judy had figured that Francine was a pretty friendly, optimistic, and playful presence.

Judy sprang to her feet, using the back of her chair for leverage. Her brows knitted as her ears dropped completely. "Francine?" she inquired, "What's going on?"

Francine now stood in front of her. When she heard Judy's question she seemed to flinch slightly, a hint of anxiety flashing in her eyes. "I… I wanted to– " She snapped her mouth shut then, swallowing hard. She lowered her head even further than before, averting her gaze, which Judy now realized wasn't just full of nervousness.

It was full of _pain_.

"Francine." Judy reached out and placed a paw on Francine's arm. Her heart jumped at how hard it was shaking. "Francine, c'mon, why're you so afraid? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Francine's reddening face tightened. "I…I wanted… I couldn't…" she stammered, her bottom lip quivering, "I… I…"

A small whine escaped her then, making Judy start. "I…" she stuttered, "You… Francine, what– ?"

Judy had no time to prepare herself for what happened next.

Francine suddenly let out a strangled sob, squeezing her eyes shut as she dropped to her knees, and before Judy could feel shocked she wrapped her trunk around her, pulling her into a tight, shuddering embrace.

"I… I'm _sorry!"_ Francine wailed, tears streaming down her face, "I'm just _so_ _ **sorry**_ _!"_

Judy blinked, her mouth falling open. "W-What…?" She pushed on Francine's chest so she could stare up at her. She furrowed her brow. "F-Francine, what– what on earth are you sorry for? Why're you– _Hnk!?_ "

Judy clenched her teeth then as Francine squeezed her even tighter, now using her arms to crush Judy into her chest again. She felt Francine shaking her head roughly, heard her hiccup as she tried to find words.

"I… I _swear_ I have… I had _no idea_ that was gonna happen! I… I just…" Francine heaved a huge sniff before bursting out:

"I…. I didn't mean to _kill him!_ I _swear_ I didn't!"

Judy froze, a gong sounding in her head.

 _"Oh..."_

Her eyes widened.

" _Oh…_ Oh…"

Even with Francine's loud sobbing pounding against her eardrums, in that moment, Judy could finally understand.

 _She_ did it. _She_ killed Nick. She pulled the gun on him, just like Finnick said. Shot him in the head. Thought he was just another savage predator, out for blood–

Another loud sob broke Judy's reverie.

"I… I-I never… I just… I saw him on top of you, and… a-and… I didn't know what to do! I… I thought he was gonna kill you! I couldn't think clearly, I just… I– I was just… I was just _so scared_!"

"Hey, hey," Judy soothed, gently stroking Francine's trembling trunk. "Francine, it… it's okay, you were just– "

Francine suddenly wrenched Judy away from her, forcing a squeak of alarm out of her. She stared at Judy with wild eyes, giving her a look of incredulity.

" _How_ can you say that!?" Francine's voice grew shrill with disbelief. "You said it in your speech yesterday! He was completely innocent! All he wanted was all the prejudice crap to stop! And I _murdered_ _him!"_

Francine's voice broke on the last word. She shook her head, letting out tiny whimpers as she finally plopped Judy back into her computer chair, wiping at her face with her knuckles.

"I… I never meant for it to happen…" she whined, "I… I was just so _scared_ …"

Judy shook her head, snatching Francine's trunk before she could pull it away. "No no no, really. It's okay," she coaxed, again running her pawpad up and down her trunk. "You were just scared. You didn't know what was really going on– "

Francine sniffed. "I was stupid– I killed him– I should've just– "

"Francine."

Francine winced and lifted her gaze. "…Y-Yeah…?"

Judy looked her coworker square in the eyes. She poured every ounce of reassurance she had into her soft smile.

"It's _okay_ ," she said, "Really. I accept your apology. I forgive you. You… you said it yourself – you were _scared._ I get that. I've seen it all way too much lately. The whole city's been scared for the past few months. But now we all know that we were wrong to be so afraid of our neighbors. We know now that it was all a ruse. I know you feel like you murdered him in cold blood, but… it wasn't your fault for getting so scared. That was Bellwether's fault. And I know that you're going to make sure you'll never let it happen again – that _no one_ will let it happen again."

As she said it Judy realized, much to her surprise, how much she meant it. Back in the hospital, just after she learned of Nick's death, Judy remembered the denial, overwhelming grief that had consumed her upon realizing that he wasn't just dead, but killed – by one of her fellow cops, no less. She remembered how angry she felt, how much it killed _her_ to know that he was dead because of an animal whose job had entitled her to pro _tect_ him…

And now that same animal was right in front of her, on her knees, openly weeping and begging for Judy's forgiveness.

Judy knew she would always miss Nick – who could ever forget about a guy like him? She knew she would always wish she could've saved him, or they could've come up with a plan to flee from Bellwether much quicker. She would always feel that twinge of pain, that sharp jab in her heart whenever his smiling face showed up in her memory. But she couldn't force herself to hold a grudge. Especially with how Francine clearly couldn't forgive herself for what she'd done. And she would probably keep feeling that way if Judy didn't forgive her.

Things _would_ get better. _She_ would get better. Her attitude will change – it had already changed by this point. Things _would_ change.

Accidents like Nick's would never happen again.

"So…" Judy concluded, "…I forgive you."

The whole time Judy had been talking Francine had watched her with wide, glistening eyes. Then, when she finally finished, the elephant's mouth fell open in astonishment. Her gaze drifted to the floor, her features softening.

Then Francine pulled her lips taut, her brows knitting. "B-But… I… I know _you_ forgive me, but…" Her eyes filled with tears again.

"…what if… what if _he_ doesn't forgive me…?"

Judy blinked. "Who? Nick?"

Francine nodded.

Judy pursed her lips, looking towards the ground as she thought. Then she grinned, shrugging.

"Well, based on my own experiences…" she said, "I'm sure if you told him what you just told me… he'd forgive you."

 **And there's that one done. I'm sorry if this one really wasn't all that good – I was in a bit of an emotional rut when I wrote this, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long.**

 **There is one aspect of this chapter that I'd like some honest constructive criticism on: is everyone in-character here? Are everyone's emotions and/or actions and thoughts realistic for them, or should I edit some scenes to make them more realistic? (I might just edit this thing anyway, because I** _ **really**_ **don't like this chapter…)**

 **Anyways, putting all of that aside, some of you keen-eyed readers might've picked up on a plot thread in this chapter that's hinting at a story I want to tackle in the future. But just in case you didn't, let's just say it would focus on one of the side characters instead of Judy ;3**

 **Anywho, I hope you guys still enjoyed this chapter! I shall see you all in the grand finale!**

 **~Pixel**


	6. Conclusions

**DISCLAIMER: Okay,** ** _this_** **time I actually own something! I own the lyrics to the song that's in this chapter – still no** ** _Zootopia_** **though…**

 _"_ _Hello there, and welcome to Tunes of Zootopia, the only channel that gives you the hottest news on Zootopia's latest tunes and stars! My name is Casey Snowfur, and tonight we've got a very special guest sitting in the booth with us! After beginning her career by releasing her debut album last year and touring with the Fur Fighters, she has soared to the top of the music world as Zootopia's most popular pop artist. And now, she is here to talk about the bonuses on the re-release of her debut, starting with the new single she's just released this week – please welcome the Angel with Horns herself, Gazelle!_

 _"_ _Gazelle, thank you so much for coming onto the show tonight!"_

 _"_ _Oh, thank you so much, Casey. It is simply a pleasure to be here."_

 _"_ _Yes, so, we're all such huge fans of your work, but what's been on everyone's mind since Monday morning is your new song, it's been topping the charts and it's been playing on every single station, and– rumor has it you created the song all on your own, yes? You wrote it, composed it, came up with the lyrics, is that true?"_

 _"_ _Yes, I composed it myself. I did have a bit of help on the lyrics from my fans– "_

 _"_ _Oh yes, that's right, you also opened up a contest to assist with the lyrics, didn't you? And those lyrics, they're what everybody is talking about now – these lyrics are unlike anything we've ever heard you sing before. So, tell me Gazelle, what inspired you to create the song? Why did you decide to reach out to write a song with such thought-provoking and… actually quite_ relevant _lyrics?"_

 _"_ _Well Casey, as you know, a month ago, the city faced a terrible controversy. More and more predator species were making headlines as savage beasts, out to maim their prey neighbors. And I… I absolutely could not stand how the citizens reacted. We were afraid of them for reasons that, I believed, had no basis in fact. I could not stand to watch my city fall apart the way it did. I felt compelled to write about it, to take a stand, if you will – and since I knew nearly all of my fanbase had experience with the topic, it only felt natural to get some outside insights…"_

~x~

"So, I'm hoping to come and see how you're doing this afternoon, maybe in the evening if Bogo doesn't let me off my shift early," Judy said into the phone pressed against her cheek, her paws busy trying to pull up her uniform's shorts. She felt the phone slip and whipped a paw up to catch it. "So if you could just hang there until I get there, that'll be gr– "

"Yes, _mother_!" Finnick snapped back at her, "I heard ya the first time!" Judy heard him mutter a few more insults about impatient mammals before a huge yawn cut him off.

Judy smirked as she finally finished fitting her pants. "Not used to waking up at stupid o' clock in the morning, are you?"

"Um…. _No_ ," Finnick growled. Judy imagined he was glaring at the phone right now. " _I'm_ not the cop here. When you work at a Little Rotentia fast food joint, you _don't_ gotta get up at five! You get to sleep in till _eight!_ But _some_ body decided it would be great to get me up just to tell me that you're gonna check up on me like some kinda daycare worker… !"

Judy's smirk faded as she held the phone a few inches away from her ear. She gave the device a sideways look as she listened to Finnick's now soft ranting.

It was moments like _that_ that made Judy wonder if they were really friends. Even after an entire month of friendly – well, friendly by Finnick's standards – communication.

Once the phone went silent Judy rolled her eyes and pressed it to her ear again. "Okay, well… I'll stop talking about it, then," she groused. She eyed the digital clock on her desk, and her heart jumped a little; 5:28.

"I… I gotta go, Finnick," she added, reaching for the set of keys on the bedside table. "I'll see you later, okay?"

She waited for a grunt. A "meh". A disgruntled "Fine". Instead, she heard nothing. For a beat Judy figured he'd just hung up on her without a goodbye, just as usual, but then she heard him breathing.

"Uh…" Judy's paw hovered over her keys. Her ears drooped. "…Finnick?" Her paw dropped to her side. "Finnick? You still there?"

She heard him swallow. "… Um…" he mumbled, "…hey rabbit– uh– Judy…. Sorry…"

"Finnick," Judy said firmly, hoisting herself onto her bed so she could sit down. "What is it? You're not usually this– "

"I'm just– " Finnick snapped, making Judy flinch a bit. Then he sighed.

"I…. I guess I just wanna… I just wanna say thanks…"

Judy blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I– I– " Finnick stammered, as if trying to shove the words back in. He groaned. "I'm so… I guess… It's just… Nick and I… we'd been doing that conning stuff for so long, and– and I'd started thinkin' that that was the only job I'd ever get, but then _you_ come along and get me this spot in that fast food place…"

Judy's playful smile slowly creeped back onto her face. "Hey," she said, cocking an eyebrow, "…are you giving me an honest-to-God _compliment,_ Finnick?"

"N–No, I'm just– !" Finnick protested. He fumbled with a few more syllables, and then a loud groan filled Judy's ears.

"….Yes I'm complimenting you…" he finally deadpanned.

Judy couldn't help her snicker. Finnick growled, "Shut up," which only made her giggle harder.

"Really, Finnick, you don't have to thank me," she laughed, standing up, "I would've helped you either way."

"But…" Finnick said, "But… I still can't get _why_ you did it. I mean… you only needed me to carry out your dumb police case, didn't you? Why'd you suddenly decide, hey, this little thief needs a job? And don't tell me you never called me that" he quickly added, "I know you were thinkin' it!"

Judy's smile faded once more. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she thought. Then she grinned, shaking her head.

"Well… _you_ might think this is a ball of cheese, but…" She let out a single chuckle. "…Let's just say, the more I've hung out with you, the more I see Nick in you. You both needed help. So here it is."

She expected the ensuing silence. It lasted for what she figured was a solid minute before Finnick cleared his throat roughly.

"Well, uh… Didn't you say you gotta get going?" he barked, "Your Chief might be reconsidering letting you go back there."

Judy snorted. "Alright, fine. I'll let you get back to sleep. I'll, uh… I'll see you later, 'kay?"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Then, just before he clicked out of the call, in that small, tender voice Judy began to really enjoy hearing:

"…Thanks again, Judy…"

Judy smiled as she slipped her phone into her pocket. Her heart warmed. She took back what she thought before about her and Finnick ever being friends.

 _"_ _If I just treat him the way Nick must've treated him,"_ she thought, _"then I'm sure he'll warm up to me. Eventually, anyway."_

With that thought safe in her mind, Judy hopped in front of her mirror, looked herself up and down, rubbed her knuckles over her newly-polished badge, and beamed.

 _"_ _First day back… Make it count, Hopps,"_ she told herself.

Sucking in a huge breath she wandered towards the door, grabbing her keys on the way. But as she gripped the knob, something on the nearby table caught her eye.

She turned. And her stomach coiled up.

Her iPod sat there, face up, with her earbuds plugged into it as if fully prepared for her to take it with her. Judy recalled the last time she'd held the tiny device – just a few days ago – last Thursday, in fact – she'd heard about this new song – and despite her mind screaming at her not to do it, she'd downloaded it.

She knew the song's story. She'd been a part of it. But she hadn't been able to bring herself to listen to it yet.

Judy swallowed as she stared at the music player, her brow furrowing, her nose twitching. She pressed her lips together hard, feeling her throat tighten.

 _"_ _It… It's been a month… it should be fine,"_ a part of her reasoned, _"You're probably going to hear it on the radio anyway…._ And _at her concert next month…_

 _"_ _Might as well get it out of the way…"_

Judy dug her claws into her palm, holding her breath. Then she let it out in a sigh, her body relaxing. Shrugging, she grabbed the iPod.

 _"_ _It's just one listen…"_ she told herself as she flipped through her saved artists, _"You can make it through one listen…"_

When she finally spotted the G's, Judy smiled. Her heart heavying ever so slightly, she tapped Gazelle's name.

Fitting the buds into her ears, she picked the song titled _"Take Off the Mask"_.

 _~You've got a head full of dreams~_

 _~It's how you found your place~_

 _~You've popped at your seams~_

 _~Everyone makes those mistakes~_

As Judy walked down the street leading to the ZPD, listening to Gazelle's normally poppy voice singing such vulnerable lyrics, she remembered how the tune came to be.

She remembered the rush she'd felt when she first read about Gazelle's lyric contest after checking her emails. She remembered how she didn't think – how she immediately rushed to the submissions inbox and typed out the first lyric that popped into her head.

She hadn't thought Gazelle would actually go with hers –it was clear that Gazelle would get millions of submissions within just a few hours, if her popularity was anything to go by. Judy had just written it on a whim, only hoping that Gazelle might see it, and possibly understand why she chose to write it the way she did.

And now that she was hearing the lyrics in full, completed form…

An image popped into Judy's head. This time she welcomed it. The inspiration for the line she wrote, the smiling face of the fox she'd thought of the whole time she'd been typing.

 _~You are just a man~_

 _~Just another animal~_

 _~But they've made you a mask~_

 _~And no one lets you take it off~_

It was all pretty weird, she realized. As much as she didn't want to admit it, if herself from a year ago could see her now (along with her parents), they'd probably be wondering how Judy had avoided getting mauled by a fox before that day in the museum. And when they'd find out that she still considered that fox who attacked her best _friend_... she couldn't even imagine the drama that would arise.

And yet here she was. She knew who she'd seen save her career, who'd viewed her as more than just a stupid, airheaded bunny – a charming, smug, yet still incredibly charismatic and kind animal – and he just so happened to be a fox, of all mammals.

She figured she'd probably never find another friend like Nick. She might meet animals who were just as kind and friendly, sure, but Judy was certain that no other friend she'd ever have would be exactly like Nick. How could you ever replicate someone that great?

In all honesty Judy didn't care that Nick was dead. _He_ would always be her best friend.

 _~But when I hear the words they throw about you~_

 _~There's no way they could ever be true~_

A light tinkling sounded in the outside world, cutting through Gazelle's music. Judy quickly paused the track and pulled out an earbud, turning towards the source of the noise.

A carnival-style ice cream stand stood at the corner of the street, its caribou vendor currently rummaging through one of its compartments as a pair of zebra foals bounced in front of it.

Judy wandered closer to the stand, squinting until she could actually read some of the choices listed on the menu printed on its side.

 _"_ _Chocolate swirl…. Oreo cone…"_ Judy mentally listed, _"Sprinkled with Jawbreaker bits… ice cream sandwich… standard vanilla cone…"_

When she finally found the one she wanted her heart gave a little trill. She smiled, quickened her pace.

"There you go, guys," said the caribou as he handed the foals their cones, waving while they bounded away, "Have a good one!" Then he noticed Judy, who had just then brought out her wallet from her pocket, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh, hello," he said, turning to Judy, "What can I do for you?"

Judy grinned and held up a ten-dollar bill. "One cherry popsicle, please."

 _~I've seen for myself: you're an angel, pure to the bone~_

 _~But then they broke your wings, turned your feathers to stone~_

 _~Turned your "Love you"s to "Hate you"s, your smiles to snaps~_

 _~And everyone who looks at you falls right into their trap~_

As Judy walked down the street again, enjoying her popsicle, she found herself swaying her head along to Gazelle's voice. She listened closely to the lyrics, feeling a sea of warmth flood her chest at the line " _you're an angel, pure to the bone"._

In fact she was listening so closely she almost didn't notice the soccer ball bouncing her way.

"Whoops!" In an instant Judy halted, kicking the ball up onto her foot. She struggled to keep her balance, and then launched the ball up over her head, kicking it back around with her heel and, laughing while she kept her popsicle in a death grip, sent it flying back to its source.

After licking the stray bits of melty popsicle from her fingers Judy looked back to where the ball went, and spotted two pairs of short legs playfully fighting for it.

Then she realized the legs' owners. And once she did, that same warmth in her chest came rushing back.

Two young boys, possibly only third-graders. One a tiger. The other a deer. Predator and prey.

And yet, from the way they smiled at each other as they both chased the soccer ball, one could make the argument that they might've been friends since birth.

The deer looked over his shoulder as he chased after his friend, jerking his hoof around in an attempt at a wave. "Thank you!"

Judy chuckled, waving back at them. She sighed as she watched them, still laughing, still lightly nudging each other every time they came too close to the ball.

 _"_ _See, Nick?"_ she thought, _"Things're getting better every day."_

She carried on.

 _~But they shouldn't see a demon when they look your way~_

 _~Go on and show them the animal they'd want to stay~_

 _~You know you're more than the predator they've made you to be~_

 _~You just need to be brave and make them see~_

Judy hummed along with Gazelle, wishing her leg was healed enough for her to skip high again.

"Hmm… shouldn't see a demon when they look your way…" she mumbled around her popsicle stick, "….duh duh duh, them the animal they'd want to stay…"

When she couldn't taste any more cherry and instead only wood, Judy stopped in her tracks once more and glanced around, setting her jaw in concentration.

She spotted a trash can just a half-block away from her, and she sped up her walk, almost lightly jogging now. She popped the stick in, brushed her palms together, and let out a contented sigh.

 _"_ _Dunno if that could've been as good as the ones Nick and Finnick hustled… but hey. Ice cream's ice cream."_

She spun on her heel, one foot already raised to take a step.

But Judy froze. Her breath hitched. Her short-term memory replayed itself for her, and her gut churned.

She turned back around, her gaze flitting upwards.

And she winced.

Standing in front of her, still just as tall as she'd remembered, was the Zootopia Rehabilitation Center.

Judy groaned through her teeth, a dull ache spreading through her chest.

She remembered the last time she'd been here – just a few weeks ago, she'd been visiting – she'd arrived as soon as she'd heard about the recently-developed Night Howler antidote – she'd checked on every animal, especially Emmet Otterton, but mostly, there was one other animal that she'd needed to talk to once he was cured – a predator that, she remembered, she felt like she could've fainted after seeing what Bellwether had done to him –

Clawhauser.

Judy ran her gaze along the hospital's innumerable windows, trying to figure out which one Clawhauser's might've been. She bit her lip, cringing as she shoved her paws into her pockets.

The only part of that visit she recalled enjoying was when he woke up from the nap she'd walked in on. She remembered the joy she'd felt, the joy he'd mirrored when he realized that it was her. Then came the part that had terrified her.

A flood of memories swarmed Judy's mind, and with each one the ache in her heart intensified.

 _"_ _He… He knows he was under some kind of spell. He knows it was the Night Howlers that made him do it,"_ a part of her reasoned, _"He knows himself. He knows he would never attack his friends on purpose. He knows he's completely innocent– "_

 _"_ _Yeah, but he seemed pretty upset when you explained it,"_ the other part of her butted in, _"Besides, you haven't talked to him since they released him. How do you know he doesn't feel even a_ bit _guilty about what happened? How do you know he's at peace with, let's face it – almost killing his coworkers? I know he was forced to do it, but still. How do you know he's okay?"_

Now Judy's mind went blank. Her gaze drifted downwards, her brow creasing with thought.

Then her face relaxed as her lips curled into a small smile.

"Well," she muttered aloud, straightening her shirt as she spun around again. "If he does feel guilty, I'll just help him through it. Even if it takes a few years, I'll do it."

She looked at her watch then; 5:41.

 _"_ _I gotta stop messing around,"_ she thought, _"Okay, just get to the ZPD. Don't wanna be too late my first day back here…"_

For the rest of the walk Judy did her best to jog.

 _~It's time you take off the mask that they've made for you~_

 _~And underneath we will find the truth~_

As Gazelle sang the last few bars of the song Judy pressed down on the iPod through her pocket, silencing it. She looked up, plucking her earbuds out, and smiled wide at the exterior of the ZPD, still standing tall and beautiful.

But rather than bouncing up the staircase, bursting through the revolving doors like she'd first envisioned, Judy halted. She turned her head. Her eyes fell on the wall at end of the railing.

And her throat tightened.

Innumerable fresh flowers covered the wall, framing the giant piece of white cardboard plastered there. Little notes scrawled in a variety of marker colors covered the white surface, some large enough for Judy to read from where she stood – she spied "We love you"s, "We miss you"s, and one "You'll always be my hero!" with a tiny smiley-face doodled next to it. And at the very top of the board was a large photograph, and just above that, a name.

Nick. Nick P. Wilde. His arms folded as he grinned, his half-lidded eyes containing the smugness, the confidence, and the kindness that Judy had come to love.

Judy smiled back at Nick, her heart growing warmer the longer she stared at him. His expression made her think of the last time he'd looked at her like that – he'd been smiling at her warmly as he held up her carrot pen, reassuring her through a completely unrelated quip that he forgave her, forgave her for breaking his heart in the worst way she ever could have –

Judy puffed a breath of air. She shoved her paws into her pockets, shivering a bit to alleviate the heaviness in her chest.

That's when she noticed that she was not alone.

Another mammal knelt in front of the little memorial – a fox. A red fox, in fact. Just like Nick. He was tiny, no more than three-quarters of Judy's height; he couldn't have been more than six years old. He wore a small blue shirt, with a stitched-up tear in the collar. Judy looked down at his clasped paws, and saw that he held a folded notecard.

As the kid placed the card in front of the memorial Judy approached him. She smiled. "Hey," she called.

Upon hearing her voice the fox's ears perked up. Mumbling "Hm?", he turned around, staring up at Judy with huge brown eyes.

He squinted, looking Judy up and down. Then his eyebrows rose, recognition flashing in his eyes.

"Oh! Hi!" he said. He had a slight lisp. "You're that rabbit who helped Nick Wilde save Zootopia, right? Missus Judy?"

Judy chuckled, nodding. "That's me," she said, gesturing towards her badge.

The little fox beamed. He stood up, pointing at his notecard. "I wrote him a note," he said, "I thought he was so cool. He was a fox like me!"

Again Judy laughed. "Well, I'm sure he'd be happy to read it."

He nodded and turned back around. After a few moments, his ears drooped by an inch. His wide smile faded away.

"…I watched you talk about him save Zootopia," he said. "He sounded so much like me."

Judy cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

The fox turned around again to face her. He raised his right paw and pulled on his shirt collar – right at the ripped edge, Judy noticed.

Then Judy noticed something else, something that made her gut drop.

In the middle of his neck, standing out in his fur, were three white claw scars.

Judy couldn't help but cringe. Who would do that? To such a cute little kid?

"Everyone at school thought predators were bad," the fox explained, "They said they were going to start putting collars on me and my family because we're foxes. They said they already got a collar for me. They tried to put it on me."

 _"_ _Apparently really jerkish prey children…."_

Judy sighed, shaking her head. "That's horrible," she said.

The fox nodded briskly, smoothing out his shirt collar. "I know. I didn't think it was real. I never hurt anyone!" Then he smiled. He reached out, pressing his pawtips to Nick's face.

"But then I heard about Nick, and everyone left me alone!" he cried. His voice shook a little in his excitement. "He was just like me! I wish I knew him."

Judy chuckled as she crouched next to him. She lightly patted his head.

"Y-Yeah…." she sighed, "…He… He would've really liked you."

She shut her eyes and saw him again – this time standing between her and Bogo, defending her loud and pound, when nobody dared to even step up –

"Did you love him?"

"D _oh– !?"_ Judy sputtered, her eyes growing wide. She felt her blood rush to her cheeks, felt her heart jump as she replayed the sudden question.

"I– ?" Judy swallowed before continuing. "I…? What'd you just say?"

"I don't mean you wanted to marry him." The fox glanced at her over his shoulder, that classic childlike innocence shining in his eyes. "You called him your best friend, and you started to cry when you talked about him. And _I_ say I love _my_ friends, especially my best friend.

"So… did you love him?"

Judy blinked as she relaxed, her ears falling flat against her head. She looked at Nick's photo, at his smug little grin, and she snorted a laugh.

"Well… when I first met him, he was _not_ very 'fun'," she admitted, "…but once I got to know him…"

She smiled despite her welling eyes.

"…Yeah… I _did_ love him…"

The fox beamed again, rubbing his paws together. "Cool!" He then stood up, brushing the dirt form his trousers. "I need to go. My mom's waiting for me. I need to go to school. It was really cool to meet you, Missus Judy! I can't wait to tell my mom about you!"

And with that, he sped off, his tiny legs carrying him as quickly as they could.

Judy laughed as she waved. "G'bye!" she called after him, "Tell your mother I said hi!"

And so Judy was alone again.

Alone with her thoughts.

And, now, with Nick's memorial.

As Judy stared into Nick's green eyes, and her heart ached all over again. Her smile disappeared slightly, now just a soft curl in the side of her mouth. She pursed her lips, and then sighed through her teeth as she shook her head.

"Well, Nick," she said softly, "Here I am. I finally made it." She raised an eyebrow. "Bet you're wishing you could be sitting with me in the meeting room, aren't you?"

She meant it as just a joke. But once the words came out she felt an arrow go through her. Her smile morphed into a cringe, and she averted her gaze to the flowers lining the board.

"…S-Sorry. That was dumb. A-Anyway, yeah. Today's my first day back at work. Gotta… Gotta make up for lost time. Can't go on any barefoot scurries anymore, though. My leg's not exactly… up to snuff, as the doctor said."

She went silent for a few beats. She fought down the growing lump in her throat. After a while she sucked in a shaking breath, held it, and let it out in a long sigh.

Her eyes found Nick's again.

And she smiled.

"…I… I told myself I was gonna stop crying over you…" she said, in a voice so soft she could barely hear it herself. "…But… God, this is so cheesy…"

She stood up.

"…I… I wasn't kidding when I told that kid how much I cared about you…"

Adjusted her shirt.

"And if it wasn't for you and me and Finnick, I think… I think things would be worse. Preds like you would never stop getting grief. Not bad for a dumb bunny, huh?"

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I… I hope you're proud of us, Nick…"

And she smiled.

"…. I hope you're proud of _me…"_

~x~

"Alright then, you lot, here are today's assignments. Officers Fangmire, Mughorn and Gazoli? You'll be patrolling Tundratown."

When Judy had finally walked into the meeting room, roll call was almost half over. Though he had been gentle with his words, Bogo still made it clear that should Judy end up late again her career might hang in the balance again.

As she'd hopped onto her seat Judy made a mental note to never get on the receiving end of a Bogo rant anymore.

"Officers Delgato and Wolford? Undercover in Sahara Square."

Her job seemed to insist that she act humble, a little uptight, and strictly professional. That didn't stop the impulse to squeal and leap for joy from entering Judy's brain as she listened to Bogo list the assignments. She clenched her teeth to keep from smiling, put her paws together to keep them from clapping, but most of all she poured her energy into forcing her right heel under her chair to stop it from tapping away.

"Snarlov and Trunkobi, we've had reports of a robbery spree in the Rainforest District. Gather as many eyewitnesses as you can."

Despite everything that this job had shown her, despite all the agony and hardships that had come her way for the past half a year, Judy knew she was ready. She needed to take up duty again.

She was ready to her childhood self proud and make the world a much, _much_ better place.

"And, of course…" Bogo adjusted his reading glasses, peering at the last item on the clipboard he held. He glanced up, looking right at Judy. "Officer Hopps."

Now Judy let herself beam. She forced her paws to stay clasped together, pushed her foot into the bottom of her chair even further.

"Parking duty."

Judy's face fell. Her brow furrowed as she looked Bogo in the eye, her upper lip curling. She scoffed as if to say _"Chief, what the_ heck _?"_

She was fully prepared to say it aloud, but then Bogo burst into laughter.

"I'm just joking, Hopps!" Bogo chuckled, folding up his glasses and tucking them into his shirt pocket. He held up the clipboard, cocking an eyebrow at her. "You're patrolling Savannah Square. We've got our eyes on a speeder tearing up the streets. You'll have to shut him down."

As soon as his first peal of laughter touched her ears Judy felt like slapping herself. She shook her head as she leapt to the floor, chuckling as well.

"M- _mm_ …" Judy waggled a finger at Bogo, giving him a playful sideways look. " _Very_ funny, Chief!" She still chuckled as she skipped her way towards the door, gently as to avoid sparking any fresh aches in her bad leg.

 _"_ _Time for_ me _to get back to living my d– "_

"Oh, but, before you go, Miss Hopps?"

Judy froze mid-skip, falling back onto both her feet. She turned around, her ears swiveling with interest. "Yes?" she inquired.

Bogo cleared his throat as he walked up beside her, putting a hoof around the doorknob. "Someone dropped in just a few minutes ago," he explained as he twisted the knob, already stepping out into the plush corridor, "Said she wanted to speak to you, in particular." He then huffed, grumbling under his breath, "Even now, animals just don't realize how busy our officers are…"

Now Judy's ears stood on end. She blinked a few times, her eyes widening with each one.

 _"_ _Someone's here… to see_ me _?"_

"Miss Hopps."

"Oh, um… sorry Chief! I'm coming!"

As Judy followed Bogo from behind down the corridor, her mind ran a mile a minute, filling up with possible candidates.

 _"_ _No way it's Finnick. He made it perfectly clear how much he wanted to go back to bed. Mom and Dad? Well, if they knew it's my first day back… No, they've got too much work to do. Clawhauser? Maybe. But the way Bogo worded it…. No, it can't be him either…."_

Judy kept listing names and reasons, eventually getting so lost in her own mind that she just barely ran into the back of Bogo's leg when he inevitably stopped walking. She peered past his leg, looking up, and spied the bold black text **Chief Bogo** at the top of the semitransparent door in front of them.

Bogo growled, shaking his head as he pushed the door open. "This better be quick…"

Judy walked in, a greeting for whoever was there already forming on her tongue.

Not even the first syllable made it past her lips.

A mammal sat in the small chair in front of Bogo's desk, lightly tapping their claws on the desk's woody surface. They wore a lavender dress with long, hanging sleeves, and a pinkish veil covered their head, leaving their identity a mystery. But when Judy looked them over further, she realized they had one very defining trait: a bushy orange tail.

Judy's heart soared. Despite everything that had occurred that morning, everything that had happened last month, she couldn't help the thought:

 _"…_ _Nick…?"_

As soon as they heard the creak of the door hinges, the mammal let out an "Ooh!" and turned their head.

They were a fox – just like Nick. They had bright green eyes – just like Nick. But now Judy noticed the rather feminine features in their face, as well as a light dusting of makeup on their cheeks.

 _"_ _Oh."_ Judy's ears fell. _"She's a vixen. Wow. I'm stupid…"_

Before she could think anything more self-deprecating, the vixen's face lit up. Her lips curled into a smile. She stood up, pushing her veil back, revealing the gold button earrings in her fuzzy ears.

"Oh, my," she said elatedly, "Are you Judy Hopps?"

"Uh… Oh, oh, yes!" Judy laughed as she stepped further into the room, motioning towards her badge. "Yes, Judy Hopps, ZPD. How can I help you?"

The vixen chuckled. "Well," she said, resting her paws on her thighs so she could lean forwards, "I was just in town, and figured it was about time I met my son's best friend."

At this, Judy's smile faded a tad. "You… Your son– ?"

Then, almost as if on cue, it clicked.

Judy's mouth dropped open, her eyes growing wide. She stared up at the vixen, taking one step back as if to steady herself.

"You… You're Nick's mom…" Judy breathed.

The vixen's smile stretched an inch. She nodded. "Yep! That would be me!" She outstretched a paw. "Maria Wilde, Miss Hopps."

"Oh, no, you can just call me Judy!" Judy reassured her, shaking her paw. She cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her slowly-heating neck. "Oh gosh, I– I'm so sorry I didn't realize right away– "

Maria chuckled, standing straighter. "Well, that's quite alright."

"A- _hum…"_

Judy swiveled her ears around. She had completely forgotten Chief Bogo.

He still stood in the doorway, though he now leaned on the frame, his cheek in his hoof as he glared down at Judy.

"Is this going to take any longer, Miss Hopps?" he deadpanned. He glanced at Maria. "You _do_ understand that our officers are very busy at this hour, right?"

"Oh no, Chief! It's fine!" Before either Bogo or Maria could say anything more, Judy held up both her paws as if to steady her boss. "It's really fine. I… I'm just wondering, could you leave us for a while?" She glanced at Maria out the corner of her eye, flashing her a smile. "I have a feeling this might take a while…"

Bogo opened his mouth as if to protest, then clamped it shut with a huff. Muttering to himself about wasting time and letting criminals roam free, he turned around, slamming the door as he left.

"I really hope you don't mind me coming down here," Maria said as she sat back down, smoothing out her skirt. She watched Judy pull out a second chair from the corner and added quickly, "I swear, if this is too much trouble I can come back another time– "

"No no no, you're fine. You're absolutely fine." Judy hopped onto her own chair, rubbing her own paws together as she sat down.

And so Judy sat there, staring up at the mother of Nick Wilde himself.

After a few seconds of silence Judy felt her smile disappearing again. Then it dropped completely as her ears drooped, a fresh pang aching in her heart. "I…" She looked to the floor. "…I'm really sorry about… you know. What happened to Nick…"

"Oh, don't apologize," Maria assured, "I mean… of course, I'm devastated, just as devastated as the day I saw it on the news, but… honestly, I'm just amazed that I managed to raise a pup who would become Zootopia's _hero_."

Judy grinned. She looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Ah…" she muttered, "you heard about that?"

"Well, who hasn't heard about it? But, Judy… everything that you listed in your speech last month… I had no i _dea_ that Nicky had been dealing with that. Before he left the family home I had thought everything was fine…" An intent glint shone in Maria's eyes.

"Could you tell me about him?" she asked, "How you met him? What he's been up to since he moved out? Oh, I want to hear _all_ of it!"

Judy chuckled. "Well… it's actually kind of a funny story…"

 **Everyone who caught the references to the movie's deleted concepts and the** ** _Robin Hood_** **homage gets a million virtual cookies ;3**

 **But anyway, OH MY GOSH IT'S DONE. IT'S ACTUALLY** ** _DONE._** **The longest fic I have written so far, and also, with thirty faves, fifty follows, and over seven** ** _thousand_** **views, my most popular fic so far!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading my story! Now, I** ** _will_** **be writing a bit of a one-shot companion story in the future, as well as a possible spin-off/continuation story. However the second thing will definitely be longer than this fic, perhaps even novel-length, and I still need to figure out most of the plot before I post anything yet (and hope I don't lose inspiration for it thanks to** ** _Finding Dory_** **and** ** _Cars 3…)_** **. So keep an eye out for those ;3**

 **Anyways, thanks again so much for reading and supporting this crazy idea of a story. As always, my name is Pixel, and I hope you all have a wonderful day :) Until my next fic!**

 **~Pixel**


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